MEMBER ECONOMY - Others

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) commissioned the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business to explore issues around globalization and technological progress, their impacts, and possible new approaches in greater detail. The findings and conclusions presented in this report have been developed from a meta-analysis of existing research, both academic and popular press; field interviews with 457 business, government, labor, academic, and nonprofit leaders; 40 thoughtleader interviews; and a detailed research questionnaire with 351 responses.

The report includes four case studies which evaluate the role of regulatory reforms in creating a proper business environment supporting SMEs: 1) dedicated agencies to assist SMEs with growth, development, compliance and internationalization; 2) agencies and institutions that specialize in supporting SME finance; 3) regulatory tiering; and 4) SME-friendly Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA).

The 2015 APEC Business Advisory Council and USC Marshall School of Business report focused on engaging SMEs in cross-border e-commerce. They conducted first hand research across the 21 APEC economies to discover the enhancers and chokepoints unique to each economy. APEC and each member governments must focus to engage and support SMEs. An APEC wide framework addressing cross-border e-commerce is needed; sharing of best practices and pathfinder approaches is encouraged; and effort is required to help SMEs capacity build