Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani revealed the topics discussed at the meeting of finance ministers of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries which was held in San Francisco, United States on Tuesday (14/11/2023). He said various topics were discussed, ranging from global economic conditions to crypto.
Sri Mulyani said that global economic conditions were the opening point in the meeting which was attended by representatives of 21 member countries. Representatives of the United States and China, he said, explained the economic conditions of their countries which had an impact on global conditions.
“As we know, America is experiencing inflationary pressure which causes high interest rates to rise and this causes bond yields from their treasury to increase. China is also experiencing a weakening domestic economy which needs to be addressed, including the issue of the weakening property sector,” said Sri Mulyani, quoted from his Instagram, Wednesday (15/11/2023).
Sri Mulyani said that these economic conditions certainly need to be responded to with fiscal policy, which is certainly not easy. He said Indonesia had learned a lot and shared experiences in dealing with the Covid pandemic, economic recovery and economic shocks due to commodity, energy and food prices.
“We have learned and shared a lot from Indonesia’s experience in dealing with Covid, economic recovery and economic shocks for commodities, energy and food, in order to protect the economy and society,” he said.
In the second session, Sri Mulyani said the forum discussed modern supply side economics. He said this is a relatively new topic and is increasingly important because the geopolitical situation is getting hotter, and the world is increasingly fragmented by global cooperation.
He said the Indonesian representative said that to achieve sustainable economic improvement, productivity was very important. Therefore, he said, programs to improve the quality of human resources, education and health are very important.
“It also discussed infrastructure financing, how to simplify bureaucracy and how fiscal policy is able to support various programs and structural reforms which are important but which are often difficult to implement in many countries,” said Sri Mulyani.
In the third session, the conversation turned to the topic of sustainable funding to deal with climate change. He said the issue of climate change was an extraordinary challenge, but it had to be overcome. He said the aspect of funding to prevent climate change was extraordinarily complicated.
“The financial aspect is an extraordinarily complicated and complicated aspect, especially when it comes to financing a country’s energy transition,” he explained.
“Indonesia is one of the countries that is really looked at in quite detail, because we are committed to making an energy transition towards a green economy, but the financial aspect is also very crucial and there is a lot that needs to be resolved,” he continued.
Sri Mulyani said the last topic discussed that day was the digital economy. Cryptocurrency and other digital assets were widely discussed in this session. “This is also an important theme in economies throughout the world and from the APEC side,” he added.
This former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official also said that he was asked to represent the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto to be a speaker at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. He said it was cooperation between 14 countries in discussing trade which was very important to safeguard Indonesia’s interests.
“This is a very important forum for Indonesia in maintaining its interests in trade, investment and geopolitical competition which is really getting worse these days,” he said.
Sri Mulyani said that the series of meetings she attended were an opening before the summit meeting between the heads of APEC member countries. He said President Joko Widodo was scheduled to attend the meeting after visiting Washington DC. “There will be a meeting of APEC leaders, 21 economies or countries and will discuss broader issues,” said Sri Mulyani.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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