OUTLINE
2000 APEC SME and New Business Support Workshop


SME Agency
MITI, Japan

Background

During last year's New Zealand process, members reached consensus on the need to address policy support for the development of SMEs and new businesses. This was specifically addressed in Paragraph 31 of the Auckland Ministerial Joint Statement:

In addition, Ministers agreed to a "road map" that sets out future work by APEC to strengthen markets in the region. Specific elements include:
-�� work to strengthen market infrastructure, in particular in the area of legal infrastructure and the development of small and medium enterprises and new businesses; ��

SME Process

SMEs in the APEC region were severely rocked by the Asia economic crisis. Japan has so far given top priority to SME support in its economic policy. We have come to realize that SME support has become truly indispensable to those economic experiencing the crisis.

The crisis had fostered APEC economies to make a renewed awareness of the importance of supporting SMEs. In this context, various efforts toward economic revitalization have finally resulted in recent signs of recovery. The 6th SME Ministerial responded to these circumstances by focusing on new business in its Joint Statement. More specifically, it noted that "Ministers directed the PLG to convene a group of experts to consider the various experiences of member economies with venture capital programs to support new and existing SMEs, including focusing on any impediments to international movements of venture capital among APEC economies."

Another effort proposed and endorsed at this meeting was the Workshop for APEC SME Financing and Management, a Japanese initiative held 26 August- 1 September, 1999 in Tokyo in response to strong member's request. The Workshop was designed to help APEC economies break free of protracted economic recession and move back on to a growth path by capacity building and deepening of information exchange across the entire APEC region in regard to SME assistance policies, bringing SME finance and business management under the same umbrella. The Workshop invited to Japan representatives from all APEC economies (a total of 37) comprising officials from the government agencies in charge of SME policy and the institutions responsible for policy implementation.

Participating economies lauded the linkage between workshop themes and the promotion of APEC SMEs, and asked that the workshop be further expanded. They also referred to the importance of supporting new businesses and one policy measure which would be valuable in SME development.

In order to further promote these discussion in the last year's process, the 2000 APEC SME Workshop, organized jointly by Japan and Brunei Darussalam, will therefore address support for new businesses. (Details will be announced at the 7th SME Ministerial Meeting.)

Project Outline

1. Organizers: Brunei Darussalam, Ministry of International Trade and Industry(MITI) of Japan, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, MITI of Japan, Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation(JASMEC)

2. Participants: Representatives from APEC economy government agencies in charge of SME policy and policy implementation institutions (the organizers will cover business-class air tickets and expenses in Japan (accommodation, meals, etc.) for two persons from each economy)

3. Date: 5-8 September 2000

4. Location: Tokyo, Japan

5. Official language: English (Japan will also make arrangements for simultaneous English-Japanese interpreting.)

6. Budget: Japan will provide approximately 嚗�380,000.

7. Main projects
* Prior study
Workshop themes embrace complex elements, and the 21 APEC economies have diverse histories, economies and social circumstances. Discussion is therefore expected to touch on a wide range of areas. To ensure efficient discussion within the given time constraints, a study will be undertaken on current circumstances in APEC economies (start-ups, ventures, etc.), and the results distributed before the workshop.

* Workshop
- Sharing of information related to the current circumstances and problems of SMEs and new business (start-ups, ventures, etc.) and examination of best practices
- Linkage with the "APEC Seminar on Securing Initial Equity Funding for Start-up Companies" in May held by Chinese Taipei
- Linkage with the analyses conducted by APEC Economic Committee on the role of entrepreneurship on the economy and policy menus for promoting start-ups.
- Discussion and exploration of best practices in terms of SME and new business policies, incorporating business-sector SME views, as well as discussion on cooperation among economies and what APEC can do
- Introduction of Japan's policies (including field studies on incubator centers, etc.)
- Interaction with Japanese SMEs (exchanges of views, SME tours, etc.)
- Introduction of efforts at business matching, etc., in APEC economies
- Industrial tour (within Tokyo; optional)

* Follow-up
Responding to the particular needs of economies emerging through the Workshop, advice will be provided at the local level by SME experts dispatched to three economies between October and December as part of the "Evolving Cooperation Initiative".