APEC business leaders back regional credit bureau

MANILA, Philippines - The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is supporting the establishment of a regional credit bureau that will allow for credit information sharing across the APEC member economies.

The regional credit bureau is expected to help banks easily determine a firm’s credit history especially when the company is already operating in different territories in the region.

According to Hiroyuki Suzuki, chairman of the ABAC finance and economics working group, small and medium enterprises in Asia are hobbled by the lack of funding sources once they go out of their home terrritories.

Apart from expanding funding sources of small businesses, Suzuki said the ABAC has raised the issue of introducing more bankable projects to bridge the infrastructure gaps in member economies.

Although this concern is being addressed through public-private partnership centers and the APEC PPP Experts Advisory Panel, which helps member economies in crafting project plans, more has to be done to entice investors fund infrastructure projects, Suzuki said.

These solutions are part of ABAC’s recommendations which will hopefully be included in APEC finance ministers’ Cebu Action Plan, a multi-year roadmap to increase financial integration, fiscal transparency and resiliency, and infrastructure development and financing in the region.

Suzuki said the Cebu Action Plan, currently being finalized by APEC finance ministers, would be unveiled following the government officials’ meeting in Cebu next month.