The 12th Asean Finance Ministers Investor’s Seminar (Afmis) happening in Cebu City aims to tackle ways of further harnessing investment opportunities within the 10-member regional bloc, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
Government officials who will welcome the region’s finance bigwigs include Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who is this year’s Asean host, and Asean Deputy Secretary-General Lim Hong Hin.
Other officials expected to attend the event include Finance Ministers Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Ibrahim of Brunei Darussalam; Sri Mulyani Indrawati of Indonesia; Johari Abdul Ghani of Malaysia; Apisak Tantivorawong of Thailand; and Secretary of State Sokha Nguon of Cambodia.
Updates on regional connectivity and the progress of the Asean Economic Community, which was designed to create a single market and production base within Asean through the free flow of goods, skilled labor, services and investments among its 10 member-states, will be discussed during the event.
The regional bloc established the Asean Economic Community in 2015, comprising a combined market of 600 million people or about 8 percent of the world’s population. This year marks a milestone for the Asean, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with the Philippines as host, and the theme being “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”
According to the DOF, the Asean finance ministers and central bank governors are set to discuss ways to strengthen the bloc’s commitments to financial integration and cooperation against the backdrop of a new wave of protectionism and other uncertainties in the global economy.
The Afmis is hosted by Dominguez and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. Agreements on the Asean Banking Integration Framework are expected to be signed on the sidelines of the Asean Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meetings.
An Asean + 3 Finance and Central Deputies Meeting with China, Japan and Korea and a separate Asean-US Treasury Deputies Meeting is set on April 5, while a joint news conference by the finance ministers of the past (Lao Republic), present (Philippines) and future (Singapore) Asean chairs will be held after the April 7 Joint Meeting.