The first APEC Finance Ministers Meeting was held in March 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the United States as the host economy. Since then, we have gathered every year, turning this Meeting into a key component of the APEC process that started in 1989. Throughout the last decade, our meetings have coincided with key events in the region, such as the Asian crisis of 1997-98, and have given us an opportunity to discuss the major challenges facing the member economies on a timely basis.

 The objective of the 11th Meeting is to serve as a forum for discussion and exchange of views between the Finance Ministers of the APEC region regarding monetary, fiscal and financial policy issues. The participants in these yearly meetings also include Central Bank representatives and heads of multilateral institutions, such as the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as senior representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Board, the APEC Financiers Group and PECC.

This forum has become one of the largest annual gatherings of Finance Ministers, involving G8 economies, as well as other developed and emerging economies. It provides an important opportunity for Ministers to discuss issues of common interest to all APEC members. The topics discussed over the last ten years have covered a wide range of key issues, such as growth strategies, capital flows, exchange rate policies, the promotion of private-sector participation in infrastructure projects, the fostering of financial and capital market development, the prevention of financial crises, the reform of international financial architecture, growth with stability and social justice, measures to combat the use of financial markets by terrorist organizations, the promotion of domestic savings, policies regarding small and medium enterprises, and regional bond markets, among others.

The long list of topics covered is an indication that APEC Finance Ministers address issues of global importance. This is crucial because it reflects APEC's

commitment to open regionalism. The different sizes and levels of development of the member economies contribute to a rich exchange of views and provide an opportunity to learn from each other's experiences.

In addition, the APEC Finance Ministers Process has launched a number of initiatives of cooperation between the member economies to promote goals such as financial and macroeconomic stability within the region. Some of these initiatives include the Voluntary Action Plan (VAP) for Promoting Freer and More Stable Capital Flows, theFinancial Regulatory Training Initiative, Managing Regulatory Change in Life Insurance and Pensions, the Pathfinder Initiative on Corporate Governance, the APEC Privatization Forum, the APEC Initiative on Alternative Remittance Systems, the APEC Finance and Development Program, the APEC Future Economic Leaders Think-Tank, and the Development of Securitization and Credit Guarantee Markets.

Chile co-chairs, with New Zealand and Thailand, the VAP for Promoting Freer and More Stable Capital Flows. During the coming year, we will be working on the APEC Initiative on Financial Disclosure, a topic that has become very relevant for promoting transparency, competition and stability in financial markets.

Chile will have the honor of hosting the 11th APEC Finance Ministers Meeting in September 2004. We are looking forward to working with our colleagues from the other APEC economies throughout the coming year on issues such as macroeconomic policy rules for stability and growth, strengthening domestic financial markets, and the development of international financial standards, among others.

We expect that this coming Meeting will build on the work that we, as Finance Ministers, have already done to enhance our understanding of the policy issues that we all face. We will put our best efforts towards making this 11th Meeting of Finance Ministers as productive and constructive, as all the previous gatherings have been.