APEC chief warns of digital divide across Asia-Pacific
HK01 · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
APEC Secretary-General Carlos Kuriyama Pedrosa described the latest APEC finance ministers’ meeting as highly substantive, saying its distinctive feature was the broad participation of multilateral development institutions including the International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and OECD. Besides a joint statement by finance ministers from 21 member economies, the meeting also issued a Policy Statement on Digital Infrastructure Financing aimed at addressing uneven digital access across the region. Pedrosa said some economies and regions, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and parts of China, have very high and widely available internet speeds, but serious internal digital gaps remain elsewhere in APEC. Looking ahead to next month’s APEC leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen, he said discussion is expected to focus on practical industrial uses of artificial intelligence, including manufacturing processes and healthcare
Key Points
- Pedrosa said the finance ministers’ meeting drew input from the IMF, ADB and OECD, helping deepen exchanges on supply chains, housing prices and food prices
- A core outcome was the Policy Statement on Digital Infrastructure Financing, released alongside a joint statement agreed by finance ministers from 21 APEC member economies
- Pedrosa warned AI and the digital economy can create jobs, value and productivity, but also risk leaving parts of society behind without broader access
- He said public budgets alone are insufficient, and predictable regulatory frameworks are needed to attract private capital into long-term digital infrastructure projects
- On Hong Kong, Pedrosa highlighted its deep capital markets and cited a recent HK$20 billion green bond issuance as an example of financing innovation
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong, the interview links the city’s financial role directly to APEC’s push to fund digital infrastructure, not only green finance. It also suggests Shenzhen’s upcoming summit could give the Hong Kong-Shenzhen corridor a clearer role in pairing capital access with applied AI deployment in existing industries