The Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will host a series of meetings March 24-27 in Taichung City, central Taiwan, further underscoring the country’s leadership in SME development.
“The events will be a great opportunity for Taiwan to share its successful business experience with other APEC members,” an official from the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs said. “They also bring Taiwan’s SME development more in line with the rest of the world.”
According to the MOEA, more than 500 academics, executives and senior officials from 21 APEC member economies are expected to take part in the events.
Those attending include MOEA Deputy Minister Cho Shih-chao, Holly Vineyard, deputy assistant secretary for Asia of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, and representatives from business heavyweights such as DHL International GmbH, Google Inc. and IBM Corp.
Kicking off activities, the Workshop on Integrating SMEs into Global Value Chains organized by Australia and the U.S. will feature discussions on how multinational corporations can help SMEs in specific sectors enhance their roles in the global value chain.
In the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Resilient SMEs for Better Global Supply Chains conference, Taiwan will showcase results of its multiyear Improving Natural Disaster Resilience of APEC SMEs to Facilitate Trade and Investment project, an initiative implemented by the country since 2012.
Themed Connecting Global Business Opportunity through APEC, the APEC Accelerator Network Forum features keynote speeches by global venture capitalists, panel discussions and business evaluation meetings and matchmaking sessions.
During the forum, Taiwan will present the Directory of the APEC Accelerator Network, initiated by the nation in 2013, to provide regional startups with assistance in terms of accelerating cross-border incubation and seeking business opportunities.
Wrapping up events, the APEC SMEWG Meeting will focus on innovation and sustainability, the priority of this year’s SME Ministers Meeting.
According to the MOEA, a highlight of the meetings is the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue Joint Statement on Resilient SMEs for Global Supply Chains by the APEC SMEWG and Emergency Preparedness Working Group.
Another major Taiwan-suggested initiative, the statement will be proposed and endorsed during this year’s meetings of APEC economic leaders and SME ministers in mainland China. (SFC-JSM)
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