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On November 24, 2022, the XXVIII Meeting of Finance Ministers of the Pacific Alliance was held, with the in-person participation of the Undersecretary of Finance of Chile, Ms. Claudia Sanhueza Riveros, of the Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico Mr. Gabriel Yorio González and the Vice Minister of Economy of Peru, Mr. Alex Contreras Miranda; and virtually the Technical Vice Minister of Colombia, Mr. Gonzalo Hernández Jiménez. The meeting was chaired by Undersecretary Yorio, by virtue of the fact that Mexico holds the pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance.
November 25, 2022.- The Finance Ministers of the Pacific Alliance (PA) met in a hybrid mode on November 24 in Mexico City, to celebrate the XXVIII Meeting of Finance Ministers of the PA.
The ministerial meeting began with a space for dialogue on the economic challenges that face the PA region, derived from the current economic and geopolitical context. The ministers made remarks on the impacts of inflationary pressures and the economic slowdown in some countries. Additionally, they highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance between a framework of fiscal responsibility and meeting the needs of the population, through the use of all available public policy tools.
Afterwards, Mexico presented the results achieved under its pro tempore presidency of the PA. The Council of Finance Ministers (CFM) made great progress in terms of: i) financial integration, ii) finance and sustainable development, iii) investment in infrastructure, iv) innovation and financial digitization, v) management of catastrophic risks, vi) tax treatment, and vii) cybersecurity.
Among the main results to be highlighted are: i) the development of Common Principles to promote the sustainability of the bloc’s financial systems, which will serve as a common reference to promote sustainable investment and build an increasingly resilient and inclusive region, in accordance with the respective national frameworks and contexts; ii) the creation of a training program for officials of PA member countries in the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the operation of financial systems; iii) the development of the rules of operation and organization of an online platform for the PA Financial Innovation Hub, which will allow the construction of a space for dialogue and consultation between innovators and the regulatory and supervisory agencies of the PA countries ; and iv) the design of the Catastrophic Risk Coverage Program, a mechanism that will facilitate the joint contracting of risk transfer schemes among the member countries of the PA.
On the other hand, Peru announced the mandates that will govern the CFM work plan for the following year. In this sense, its agenda will focus, among others, on the promotion of financial inclusion, the evaluation of climate financing mechanisms, the fight against tax avoidance and evasion, the mobilization of resources for emergency care in the event of natural disasters, as well as the strengthening of the Council’s institutionalism, including coordination with the other instances of the Pacific Alliance and the improvement of the dissemination of results.
Finally, the ministers thanked the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for its commitment to the Pacific Alliance, in its role as Technical Secretariat of the CFM, and technical ally for the development and implementation of initiatives aimed at strengthening the process of financial and economic integration of the member countries of this regional integration mechanism.
