APEC finance ministers start 2-day talks in Hawaii | Kyodo News

HONOLULU, Nov. 9, Kyodo

Finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Wednesday started two-day talks to discuss ways to attain sustainable and balanced growth as the European debt crisis threatened to hamper global growth.

The APEC financial chiefs will likely note the important role they have to play in helping bolster global growth as the Pacific Rim economies account for over half of global gross domestic product.

The gathering, which kicked off with a working dinner, comes after the Group of 20 leading economies failed to make tangible progress in resolving the eurozone financial problems stemming from the Greek sovereign debt crisis in their summit talks last week in Cannes, France.

As part of debate on rebalancing global growth, the United States is likely to prod China and other emerging economies to enhance domestic demand and move toward currency regimes that reflect economic fundamentals.

''Moving more rapidly into market-determined exchange rates and avoiding persistent exchange rate misalignment will reinforce the necessary shift away from export dependence to greater reliance on domestic demand as a source of growth,'' a U.S. Treasury Department official said earlier this week.

The ministers are also expected to discuss financial sector reform such as strengthening bank capital and boosting liquidity to better shield the fast-growing region from future financial crises.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is scheduled to hold a press conference after the conclusion of the meeting on Thursday afternoon.

From Japan, Senior Vice Finance Minister Fumihiko Igarashi will join the second-day meeting in lieu of Finance Minister Jun Azumi.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

==Kyodo

Source: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/11/125242.html

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