MANILA, March 6 -- Deputies from finance ministries and central banks of member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Friday discussed ways to develop infrastructure construction and improve financial resilience in the region.

The senior officials gathered in Tagaytay city in northern Philippine province of Cavite for the APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting, which was held from March 5 to 6.

Some of the pertinent topics of the meeting were withstanding external shocks, surviving weak global markets, and natural calamities.

"Boosting financial resiliency and infrastructure development poses the benefit of ensuring that economic gains of the region can be sustained," said the Philippine Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran on Friday during the meeting.

Financial resiliency and infrastructure development are the third and fourth pillars, respectively, of the Cebu Action Plan, which is a medium- to long-term development roadmap for Asia- Pacific economies that is proposed by the Philippines.

Along with efforts by the Philippines and other APEC member economies toward financial resiliency and infrastructure development, there was a consensus that it is necessary to implement more measures.

The discussions that took place during the Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting will be taken up once again in the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting in central Philippine city of Cebu this September.