The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member-economies will develop a road map for expanding the coverage of microinsurance and disaster-risk finance in a bid to mitigate the impact of natural disasters particularly on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, in an international forum on trade financing, said the creation of the road map and network of experts through the support of Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) is among the deliverables of the Cebu Action Plan (CAP).
Beltran said the CAP, a multiyear road map for reforms that finance ministers approved last September, outlined programs to expand MSMEs’ access to finance and promote financial inclusion.
To enhance financial resiliency, he added the Apec aims to establish and promote private disaster insurance schemes through collaboration and exchange of information and experience among economies, international organizations and private sector.
These initiatives are in line with a goal of deepening insurance penetration and developing risk sharing measures.
Finance ministers have also identified concrete programs aimed at deepening capital markets by participating in the work of the APFF, such as workshops and dialogues to develop liquid repo markets, legal and documentation infrastructure facilitating risk mitigation, transparency of capital markets, and regional securities investment ecosystem to promote cross-border investment.
The CAP’s first pillar, financial integration, is aimed, among others, at promoting an enabling financing environment for MSMEs, including trade, supply chains and alternative financing mechanisms.
Among the deliverables under this pillar include establishing a Financial Institution Development Network to facilitate workshops, dialogues and studies to establish legal framework for credit information systems (CIS) and develop model language for regulations governing sharing of public data with CIS.
Other pillars of CAP are promoting fiscal reforms and accelerating infrastructure development and financing.