SME Ministers Meeting Begins - Viet Nam Prime Minister Cites Challenges of Globalization
The challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as a result of globalization were highlighted by Viet Nam's Prime Minister at the opening of the 13th APEC SME Ministerial Meeting in Ha Noi today.
Citing the achievements of SMEs in ensuring the dynamic growth of the Asia-Pacific region, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung noted areas where small businesses require greater support.
"In addition to the great advantages resulting from globalization, SMEs in the region, particularly those in developing economies face pressure from competition, unpredictable fluctuations in financial and monetary markets and changes in the price of inputs to production," Mr. Dung said.
"SMEs must also deal with rapid changes in science and technology which require a significant amount of capital for technology renovation and the improvement of human resources quality.
"In order to sustain the rapid growth of the regional economy, there is an urgent need to create more favourable conditions for SMEs. This includes improving access to finance and technology, expanding the market for domestic consumption of SME products and export encouragement.
"We also need to enhance the linkages among SMEs within each APEC economy and in the region as a whole."
The ministerial meeting began with an informal retreat in the morning session followed by the formal plenary in the afternoon.
Ministers provided the meeting with updates on SME development in their economies and discussed solutions to a number of pressing issues. These included the difficulties faced by many small business in gaining access to formal sector finance, and the hidden value of intellectual property rights that are often posses by small businesses.
The ministerial meeting continues on Friday morning with a final formal session before ministers will hold a news conference and release the 'Hanoi Declaration on SME Competitiveness for Trade and Investment' and a joint ministerial statement.
The Hanoi Declaration is a landmark document for APEC's SME work that identifies measures of importance for the ongoing health of small business in the region. These include domestic reforms in areas such as the reduction of red tape and bureaucracy, and the importance of business incubation, innovation and entrepreneurship support from regional governments.