21 October 2026
1. We, the APEC Finance Ministers,
convened our 33rd annual meeting on October 20-21, 2026, in
Hong Kong, China, chaired by H.E. Lan Fo’an, Minister of
Finance of the People’s Republic of China.
2. Under
the APEC 2026 theme of “Building an Asia-Pacific Community
to Prosper Together”, and with a focus on the 2026
priorities of “Openness, Innovation, Cooperation”,
guided by the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 and the Incheon
Plan and noting other existing APEC frameworks, we reaffirm
our commitment to building an open, dynamic, resilient, and
peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040 for the prosperity
of all our people and future generations. We engaged in
meaningful discussions on fiscal policy supporting
households, digital infrastructure financing, financial
access and opportunity for all, and welcomed the convening
of the Young Financial Talents Dialogue, to promote the
prosperity and resilience of the region.
Global and
Regional Economy
3. The global and regional economy
has shown resilience, with rapid technological development
and industrial transformation emerging as important engines
of economic growth. Downside risks persist due to ongoing
geoeconomic tension, supply chain vulnerabilities, commodity
prices volatility, tighter financing conditions, extreme
weather events and natural disasters, and continued policy
uncertainty. Over the medium term, structural challenges,
such as debt vulnerabilities, demographic shifts, economic
fragmentation, extreme weather events and natural disasters,
may continue to weigh on growth prospects. APEC economies
stand together at a pivotal moment to advance collective
efforts to enhance economic resilience. We note that global
imbalances have persisted, creating risks to growth and
stability. We recognize that global rebalancing is in our
common interest and agree to strengthen communication and
cooperation in this regard. We also reaffirm our commitment
to maintain resilient supply chains and recognize that it is
in our mutual interest that our region remains
interconnected and trade corridors remain open. We also
recognize the importance of transparency regarding measures
that may affect trade or disrupt supply chains.
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4. We
emphasize the importance of credible and flexible fiscal,
monetary and financial policy frameworks to manage shocks,
maintain macroeconomic and financial stability, and the need
for structural reforms to address medium-term
vulnerabilities. We reaffirm our 2021 exchange rate
commitments. We recognize the pivotal role of digital and
other advanced technologies in enhancing productivity,
innovation, efficiency and resilience and supporting
economic growth, and underscore the importance of
encouraging innovation and responsible adoption of these
technologies, while promoting digital skills development and
workforce adaptation to ensure that the benefits of
technological progress are widely shared, and addressing
potential risks and strengthening consumer and business
trust.
5. We encourage strong multilateral cooperation
in the APEC region as an important driver to promote
economic growth. We remain committed to APEC as the premier
forum for regional economic cooperation and emphasize the
importance of its role in bringing us together to address
economic challenges and create a more resilient and
prosperous Asia-Pacific region for all.
Fiscal Policy
Supporting Households
6. We take note of the
structural challenges the region is facing, and underscore
the importance of enhancing the effectiveness and quality of
public spending. We reaffirm that well-targeted
household-supporting fiscal policies—particularly through
strengthening household consumption, where needed, and
investing in human capital across the life cycle—can
support domestic demand in the short term and enhance
productivity, innovation and sustained growth over the long
term. We encourage member economies, consistent with their
respective domestic circumstances and fiscal space, to
design and implement targeted and well-calibrated fiscal
measures that strengthen the link between public expenditure
and tangible improvements in household welfare, which can
foster positive feedback loops between consumption,
productivity, and employment.
7. In this regard, we
acknowledge the Report Supporting Households and
Investing in Human Capital: Fiscal Policy Considerations for
Sustaining Growth in APEC, prepared by the World Bank,
offered to APEC Finance Ministers as reference. We
underscore the importance of strengthening household
consumption, where needed, building human capital across the
life cycle, ensuring spending efficiency, and promoting
domestic revenue mobilization as appropriate to member
economies’ diverse domestic circumstances and policy
priorities. While advancing these fiscal policies supporting
households, we recognize key fiscal principles, including
fiscal sustainability, macroeconomic stability, and
efficient resource allocation and prudent public debt
management, which safeguard welfare against economic
volatility and, in that way, provide an essential foundation
for households and firms to invest, innovate, and
prosper.
Digital Infrastructure Financing
8.
We acknowledge that robust digital infrastructure serves as
the backbone of economic resilience and financial stability.
Yet significant financing gaps persist in some economies,
exacerbated by policy and regulatory constraints and limited
financing channels. We therefore encourage exchanging views
and sharing best practices across APEC economies to identify
and address these gaps through developing a
whole-of-ecosystem approach that mobilizes resources from
the public sector, the private sector, and multilateral
development banks (MDBs).
9. We encourage the public
sector to foster clear, transparent, and predictable policy
and regulatory frameworks for digital infrastructure
development. We encourage the private sector to play a
prominent role in providing funding and technical expertise,
and to develop and adopt innovative financing approaches. We
also encourage MDBs, in line with their respective mandates,
to play a catalytic role by de-risking investments including
through approaches which may include guarantees and blended
finance mechanisms, mobilizing private capital, and
supporting project preparation and readiness. We affirm that
this effort can leverage a range of finance models to bridge
funding gaps and accelerate the deployment of digital
infrastructure.
10. We welcome and endorse the
Policy Statement on Digital Infrastructure Financing
Across the Asia-Pacific Region. We recognize its value
as a voluntary and non-binding document under the Finance
Ministers’ Process (FMP) that contributes to a more
digitally empowered Asia-Pacific region. We encourage member
economies to enhance voluntary knowledge sharing on mutually
acceptable terms and capacity building, consistent with
their domestic circumstances and
priorities.
Financial Access and Opportunity for
All
11. We recognize that expanding financial access
and opportunity for all contributes to balanced, sustainable
growth and strengthens economic resilience, ultimately
advances the long-term financial well-being of our
populations. We emphasize that financial services should be
available, accessible, affordable, trusted, usable,
transparent, and responsive to the diverse needs of
individuals, households, and businesses, particularly MSMEs.
We emphasize the importance of financial consumer protection
and financial literacy for all in enabling people to use
financial services with confidence. We note with concern
that those with limited digital or financial literacy
continue to face persistent barriers in accessing and using
such services.
12. We acknowledge the efforts of
member economies to advance approaches to financial access
and opportunity that suit their respective contexts. We
acknowledge the APEC Compendium on Financial Access and
Opportunity for All. We underscore the importance of
sharing these experiences and good practices among member
economies, and encourage economies to draw on relevant
experiences as appropriate to develop approaches to
financial access tailored to their domestic
contexts.
Young Financial Talents Dialogue
13.
We recognize that cultivating the next generation of
financial policymakers and professionals has become
increasingly critical to seizing emerging opportunities and
addressing shared challenges. We welcome efforts for a
capacity-building and knowledge-exchange dialogue for young
financial officials across the APEC region. This event,
themed “Digital Innovation for Development and Growth”,
has been concluded in August and organized by Asia-Pacific
Finance and Development Institute (AFDI).
14. We
welcome the program’s summary report and commend this
program for its contribution to strengthening
participants’ collaboration and building young financial
leaders’ network. We support in principle continuing the
cooperation to enhance capacity of young professionals in
the financial sector, taking into account the host year’s
priorities and to be agreed through the Finance Ministers’
Process.
Other Issues
15. We appreciate the
continuous support for the FMP’s work from the APEC
Secretariat, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank
Group (WBG). We also take note of the contributions from the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Development Bank of Latin
America and the Caribbean (CAF). Furthermore, we welcome the
active and ongoing collaboration with the private sector, in
particular with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC),
and acknowledge ABAC’s recommendations to the APEC Finance
Ministers. We note the contributions of some APEC economies
and the private sector to FMP workstreams and initiatives,
such as the Working Group on Regional Disaster Risk
Financing and Insurance Solutions for APEC Economies
(DRFI-WG), the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF), the
Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP), the
Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Forum (APFIF), the Asia
Region Funds Passport (ARFP), the Asia-Pacific Finance and
Development Institute (AFDI) and the Sustainable Finance
Initiative (SFI).
16. We express our appreciation to
the People’s Republic of China for hosting the 2026 APEC
Finance Ministers’ Meeting and to Hong Kong, China for the
hospitality extended at this meeting. We look forward to
meeting again at our 34th Finance Ministers’ Meeting in
Viet Nam in
2027.
