2009 APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting

2. The policy theme of the meeting was "Helping SMEs Access Global Markets and Overcome Trade Barriers", which is in line with Singapore's APEC 2009 theme of "Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region".

3. In line with the policy theme, Ministers discussed policies and initiatives to help SMEs access global markets, highlighting a number of valuable programmes implemented across APEC to assist SMEs in acquiring vital market information. Ministers endorsed Singapore's proposal to carry out a feasibility study on the establishment of an "APEC SME Market Research and Capability Development Centre (SMRC)". The Centre could serve as a regional enabler for APEC economies to assist SMEs in accessing global market opportunities in an integrated effort. If established, the Centre could bring together APEC initiatives and programmes; provide a platform for joint business collaborations; provide regional market research and market intelligence; and develop core market access capabilities that could be adopted by APEC economies. Ministers agreed with the formation of a study group consisting of Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Chinese Taipei, requesting that the study take into account economies' existing expertise and experience to ensure the Centre (if established) adds value and to involve private sector partners where possible to ensure viability and sustainability. Ministers requested for an update at the next SMEWG meeting in Hong Kong, China.

4. Ministers commended Singapore for the development of the APEC Business Fellowship (ABF) framework. Such in-market executive training programmes which expose APEC SMEs to practical business practices in their respective markets would promote enterprise-level business collaborations among APEC SMEs. Ministers looked forward to the first run of the ABF in 2010.

5. Ministers also noted the "Workshop on Developing Trading Houses for Strengthening SMEs Global Market Network" which will be held in Indonesia later this month and Singapore's study on Export Technical Assistance Models. Ministers encouraged SMEWG members to support these initiatives, which ultimately will improve APEC SMEs' access to global markets.

6. At the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Lima in 2008, Leaders requested that member economies make every effort to assist SMEs during this period of global financial crisis and ensure their survival. SMEs Ministers expressed their appreciation for the efforts that member economies had made and reiterated the call for members to continue prioritising initiatives that resist protectionism while supporting capacity building and access to financing for our SMEs. At the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting held in Singapore in July 2009, Trade Ministers had unanimously called for the fostering of inclusive and sustainable growth strategies, facilitation of trade and investment flows, resisting of protectionism, keeping markets open and to give a new push to conclude the Doha Round. In particular, SMEs Ministers welcomed the commitments by their Trade counterparts to make it easier, faster and cheaper to do business in the region by focusing these efforts to reduce or remove regulatory impediments "behind the border", as well as to promote inclusive growth through facilitating structural adjustments to make the region more resilient, adaptable and attractive to business. SMEs Ministers expressed their support for APEC's initiatives that have a direct impact on SMEs; such as ease of doing business; supply chain connectivity; making rules of origin business friendly; and inclusive growth.

7. To complement this work, Ministers discussed policies and initiatives which have helped SMEs become more resilient in overcoming the effects of the financial crisis and best position them to seize new growth opportunities in its aftermath.

8. Ministers recognised the efforts by Chinese Taipei to organise the "Symposium on SME Strategies to Manage the Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis" on the margins of the 28th SMEWG meeting held in Chinese Taipei. Ministers acknowledged the urgent need for SMEs to have professional guidance when faced with such crisis. They commended the efforts by Chinese Taipei in formulating the "Principles and Checklist of Financial Crisis Management for APEC SMEs" and encouraged member economies to distribute the principles and the checklist to SMEs in their respective economies to assist them in crisis preparedness and business continuity management.

9. Ministers recognised the need for SMEs to be aware and informed of potential crises, and encouraged the establishment of the "APEC SME Crisis Management Center" proposed by Chinese Taipei as a mechanism to help APEC SMEs manage a variety of economic crises in the future. The Centre will coordinate expertise from member economies to provide SMEs with the value-added services of crisis monitoring, consultation, training and analysis to enable SMEs to conduct early preparedness and enhance their capacity to overcome the impact of crises.

10. Ministers noted the impact of external events on our SMEs, such as the global financial crisis and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Ministers commended the actions taken by the United States in hosting the fourth "APEC Pandemic Preparedness for SMEs Train the Trainer Workshop" which has helped SMEs better prepare in the area of business continuity. Ministers thanked the United States for plans to replicate the series of workshops in 2010.

11. At a practical level, Ministers reaffirmed that SMEs' growth would best be stimulated by actions taken under the six priority areas in the SMEWG Strategic Plan to:

• Continue to enhance the business environment to promote stable regulatory frameworks;
• Build management capability and promote entrepreneurship by SMEs;
• Enhance SMEs' access to markets through information and capability development;
• Accelerate and promote innovation as a key competitive advantage of SMEs;
• Increase awareness and availability of financing to SMEs; and
• Encourage sustainable business practices by SMEs.

12. Ministers encouraged the alignment of all SMEWG projects to the priority areas of the Strategic Plan. Ministers endorsed the list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed and supported their adaptation to track the progress of the Strategic Plan, and noted their usage in measuring the outcomes of APEC SMEWG projects. Ministers noted the value of working closely with the APEC Secretariat Policy Strategic Unit (PSU). Ministers requested for regular updates on the progress of the current Strategic Plan through 2012.

13. Ministers supported the proposal of having Champion Economies in each priority area to drive implementation of the initiatives undertaken by various economies. Ministers endorsed the following Champion Economies in five priority areas and encouraged SMEWG members to fully support the efforts and plans put forth by these Champions :-

Priority Areas Champion Economies

14. Ministers commended Korea for the initiatives undertaken by the APEC SME Innovation Center in facilitating SME innovation in the APEC region. Ministers recognised the importance of the Daegu Initiative and supported the need for self-assessment of members' innovation activities to provide best-practice examples for the Daegu Initiative. This will serve as a basis for determining whether to pursue the second cycle of the initiative. Ministers noted the relevance of the Daegu initiative to the Innovation priority area of the Strategic Plan. Ministers acknowledged that co-champions Korea, Peru and the United States, in working jointly to review and plan for future initiatives, would be able to show more effective outcomes for SMEs in member economies.

15. Ministers instructed the SMEWG to continue to develop initiatives aimed at enhancing the capabilities of SMEs in the priority areas of the Strategic Plan and noted this year's efforts such as the "Ease of Doing Business series on Trading Across Borders and Access to Credit" by New Zealand and "SME Innovation Seminar on Innovation in SME Financing and Marketing" by Korea are commendable. These initiatives would, as a whole, help to position SMEs for growth after the crisis.

16. Ministers acknowledged the value of the "APEC SME Technology Entrepreneur Seminar" organised by the United States and co-sponsored by Malaysia. Ministers encouraged SMEWG members to use the recommendations of the seminar as a basis to develop future projects (irrespective of whether APEC-funded or not), in the areas of access to technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

17. The development of women, youth and indigenous people is a cross-cutting priority of the Strategic Plan. Ministers recognised that developing micro-enterprises and investing in women will help with the overall economic recovery and reduce poverty and inequalities in our region. Ministers welcomed the work on women's empowerment underway in the APEC SMEWG, including the pilot program being implemented by the United States in Peru to "Empower Women in the APEC Region Through Trade". Ministers supported the new APEC SME public-private partnership programme, led by the United States, to provide "Global Solutions for Women's Economic Empowerment" as a way to further support women-owned micro and small businesses. Ministers also noted the ten-year anniversary of the "APEC SME Consumer Education and Protection Initiative" and its many successes via tailored programs for micro-enterprises in partner APEC economies.

18. Ministers welcomed the collaborations developed by the SMEWG with other APEC fora during 2009, and affirmed their commitment to continue to lead coordination efforts on SME-related work within APEC.

19. Ministers thanked participants from ABAC, the GFPN and the WLN for their contributions to the work of the SMEWG.

20. Ministers are pleased to note that ABAC has endorsed a non-binding commitment to host an APEC SME Summit each year, and look forward to a closer working relationship between APEC SMEWG and ABAC on this ongoing initiative. Ministers also welcomed the various recommendations raised by ABAC such as the study on SME relief programs, APEC Financial Inclusion Initiative, Innovation Supply Chain, addressing barriers to ICT utilisation, and better access to finance by SMEs which could be explored further with ABAC.

21. Ministers noted the recommendations of the 14th Women's Leaders' Network (WLN) Meeting and agreed with the APEC Gender Focal Point Network (GFPN) that the inclusion of measures to promote employment generation for women in informal and vulnerable sectors, access to financing for women-led SMEs and support for social enterprises for women is relevant to furthering the purposes of the SMEWG. Ministers noted the "Good Practices to Promote Women-Owned Micro-Enterprises," a set of solid recommendations from the APEC GFPN-WLN Micro-Credit Workshop led by the United States and held in August 2009 in Singapore. Ministers welcomed the second APEC GFPN Micro-Credit Workshop to be held in early December 2009 in Indonesia.

22. Ministers noted that the APEC 2010 SMEs theme is to be "Strategy for Reinvigorating Economic Growth with Dual Engine: SME and Asia-Pacific Economy" with the sub-themes:

• Improving business environment of SMEs;
• Enhancing business support programs for SMEs; and
• Facilitating SMEs innovation and access to global markets.

23. Ministers recognised the importance of continuity in driving the SMEWG Strategic Plan, and noted Singapore's commitment to work closely over the next two years with Japan and the United States to progress the development of our SMEs in alignment to the priority areas of the plan.

24. Given the importance of SMEs in our member economies, and the continued volatility in and uncertainty of the global economy, Ministers agreed that the SMEs Ministerial Meeting continue to be held annually, so that issues and challenges affecting SMEs' growth can be discussed and addressed by APEC SMEs Ministers responsively.

25. Ministers thanked Japan for hosting the next SMEs Ministerial Meeting scheduled for 2-3 October 2010 in the City of Gifu, Japan.

26. Ministers agreed to present this Joint Ministerial Statement to the APEC Economic Leaders' and Ministers' Meetings in November 2009.