APEC as a Force for Financial Inclusion: A Regional Initiative

This paper states, giving reasons, that the objective of financial inclusion needs to be at the forefront of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation process (APEC) leaders' policy agendas. A recent World Bank report, Finance for All, revealed that there was wide variation in access to financial services among APEC and other Asia-Pacific economies. Further, only a minority of APEC economies could provide data on levels of financial inclusion. The Finance Ministers' Process (FMP) is the APEC forum for discussion on matters of financial inclusion. At the November 2008 meeting of APEC leaders, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) planned to urge the FMP to adopt financial inclusion and microfinance as their objectives. ABAC recommended that APEC FMP promote an enabling policy and regulatory environment including measurement of financial inclusion levels. This set of recommendations, if accepted by APEC FMP and endorsed by APEC leaders, will promote adoption of microfinance and result in increased financial inclusion.