MBIE Leading exchanges for APEC members

The workshop, chaired by Mr Matthew Molloy, Manager of the Trade and International team, featured experts and attracted 130 participants from 19 APEC economies over two days. “Fintech is growing across the APEC region and has the potential to shape markets and how services and products are delivered, particularly in our post-COVID recovery,” Matthew Molloy says.

Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and for the Digital Economy and Communications, opened the workshop with a reflection on fintech’s transformation which has seen the emergence of new players and new ways of delivering services across a range of markets. The workshop included speakers and panellists from the OECD, World Trade Organization, as well as public and private sector representatives from the APEC Policy Support Unit, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Chile, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia. Topics canvassed included building a conducive business environment for Distributed Ledger Technology/Blockchain and its potential to facilitate international trade, and ESG standards and the use of fintech to meet our international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Agreement.

An issues paper was commissioned to support the workshop discussion, which included policy recommendations on actions for APEC member economies to consider. This has now been endorsed by the Economic Committee and is accessible on the APEC website.

Building an Enabling Environment for FinTech(external link) — APEC