South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yun Cheol Koo opened the meeting, highlighting today’s heightened “policy uncertainties — including trade tensions, elevated debt levels, demographic shifts and climate change” facing the Asia‑Pacific region.
Held under the theme “Innovation, Finance and Fiscal Policy for Sustainable Growth,” the meeting brought together representatives from the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development and other major institutions.
The World Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and UN Development Programme attended as observers.
In his speech, Koo emphasized that the founding vision of APEC — cooperation and mutual trust — “remains as important as ever” in this turbulent environment.
“By standing together in solidarity and cooperation, we can continue to overcome every challenge and crisis,” he said.
Ministers focused on the global and regional economic outlook, the emergence of AI‑driven digital finance in expanding access, and how fiscal systems must adapt to demographic and sustainability pressures.
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Koo stressed that finance leaders must “guide economies through rapid digital transformation,” noting that the AI era is reshaping technologies, societies and economies.
He urged responsible financial innovation and inclusive access, noting that digital finance has enabled alternative credit assessment for small businesses and helped address fraud and scams.
“Our task is to foster innovation while building a responsible financial ecosystem that balances opportunity with risk and ensures access for vulnerable groups and remote communities,” Koo said.
On fiscal policy, Koo called for structural responses to aging populations and climate change, and reaffirmed the need to strengthen public finances through expenditure restructuring and tax reform.
“The future is not something to wait for, it is something we should create together,” he added.
Ministers will convene Wednesday with their counterparts from the Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting for a joint session on innovation and digitalization.
The dialogue aims to help APEC economies harness digital technologies to boost productivity, strengthen regulatory coherence and ensure that the benefits of digital transformation are broadly shared.
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Reporter: Asri Mayang Sari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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