MEMBER ECONOMY - The Philippines

DESCRIPTION:Hong Kong, China’s (HKC) presentation focused on their multi-folded support measures to enhance the competitiveness of its SMEs for their greater participation in the Global Value Chains. These measures included the promotion activities by the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council to enable SMEs to explore and connect with the global market; funding support to assist SMEs to upgrade their business and innovate; promoting research and development and their commercialisation; and providing infrastructure and other institutional support to facilitate the movement of goods across borders.

DESCRIPTION:Aimed at helping develop or improve Trade Promotion Organisations’ services to better support women-led SMEs access global markets. Phase one of the project in 2014/15 identified the barriers women exporters face and developed a set of best practices and lessons that can be adapted to the individual circumstances of APEC economies. In 2016 and 2017, in phase two of the project, Australia is providing assistance to targeted economies to address economy specific barriers.

DESCRIPTION:The project is identified as one of the existing efforts undertaken by APEC in promoting digital economy. Five O2O serial events held in Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Viet Nam and the Philippines in 2017, expected to establish an expert network, formulate the APEC SME digital resilience training guidebook, enhance SMEs’ capabilities to seize digital opportunities and well prepare for the challenges via cross fora collaboration.

DESCRIPTION:Initiative funded by Canada that intended to foster economic growth and reduce poverty in APEC developing economies by building the potential of MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs. The initiative has 2 components: C$2M APEC MSME Sub-Fund and C$2.49M for research and training project under the coordination of Asia Pacific Foundation. Asia Pacific Foundation collaborates with APEC in the following areas: (i) Sharing best practices, (ii) Finding common points on project collaboration, (iii) Highlighting new ideas to explore and expand, (iv) Identifying common interests and build on them, (vi) Extending and complimenting other projects with common goals.

DESCRIPTION:The 4th APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum to be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam on 7-8 September 2017. The goals of the forum include: (i) specialized capacity building mentoring to ensure all economies have relevant industry codes in place by 2020, (ii) increase the number of member economies with public-private framework agreements to facilitate high-standard ethical business practices across national health systems, and (iii) strengthen ethical business practices for distributors and other third party intermediaries as vital enterprises in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors.

DESCRIPTION:Hong Kong, China’s (HKC) sharing focused on their support for SMEs in the internet and digital economy. Some of the measures included incubation programmes to nurture start-ups in the ICT field and mobile app business; opening up government and public data for entrepreneurship and making land available for the development of data centres; providing support and setting up dedicated institutions for assisting SMEs to upgrade, innovate and adopt technological solutions; and training and educating SMEs to increase their knowledge and know-how of the internet and digital economy.

DESCRIPTION:Hong Kong, China’s (HKC) sharing focused on their continuous efforts in driving the development of innovation and technology (I&T), with a focus on re-industrialisation. By re-industrialisation, HKC aimed at applying I&T to manufacturing for developing high-end industries suitable for HKC and carrying out high value-added production processes. To achieve this, a number of measures have been taken, including providing more space for industrialisation, assisting existing industries to move towards high value-added production, strengthening research and development, and providing financial assistance for upgrading and innovation.

DESCRIPTION: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).

DESCRIPTION: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

DESCRIPTION:Recommendations from the Dialogue include: Government agencies to act as facilitator; Look into new emerging SMEs, such as online business, social enterprises, services industry and tourism;Develop strategies to promote innovation and technology transfer to improve the competitiveness of SMEs; Best practices on innovation and entrepreneurship; he Internet is an important infrastructure to help SMEs do business and export. On this point, it is shared that APEC may develop a work plan to enabling the participation of SMEs in digital trade; Assess the impacts of FTAs/RTAs on agriculture.

DESCRIPTION:SNE accounted for 97.5% of total enterprises in Viet Nam, but only 1% in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery sector. In the agriculture sector, SMEs’ innovation has an important role in various stages from inputs, production, post-harvest, processing and trading of agricultural products. In 2015, Viet Nam is one of the 14 outperforming economies among the middle-income group, one of the eight innovation achievers, and one of the 11 developing economies that are labelled “innovation outperformers”. Viet Nam also shared about their Government’s initiatives in promoting innovation and SME development, as well as about the five best practices SME innovation in the agriculture sector.

DESCRIPTION:Singapore shared their experience about how innovation could help SMEs operate more efficiently and increase revenue. Singapore also explained its sectoral approach in developing innovation infrastructure and making intellectual property more accessible to SMEs. In addition, Singapore also pointed out how SMEs could partner larger companies to innovate and highlighted key emerging technology areas to look into in the coming years

DESCRIPTION:Initiative oriented to encourage the youth (between 18 – 40 years) to venture into business. The objectives of this program are to acculturate entrepreneurship, create a paradigm shift from job seekers to employment providers, and create resilience and sustainability of entrepreneurs. After the successful completion of Phase 1 (Test the Perseverance of Mind & Physical) and Phase 2 (Increase Knowledge – Effective Business Operations), the participants will receive RM15, 000 (USD3,628) to assist them in starting the business and will be able to utilize the a Buddy System for 12 months upon the business establishment to receive advice from experienced and trained Business Counsellors.

DESCRIPTION:Recent developments in support to innovation and technology (I&T). Hong Kong, China set up a dedicated bureau and put significant financial resources to carry out a number of initiatives, including promotion of “re-industrialization”, research and development; supporting I&T start-ups and SMEs; nurturing talents, etc.

DESCRIPTION:Best practices in industrial development, specifically the fastener industry. The competitiveness of the fastener industry in Chinese Taipei is facilitated by SMEs industrial clusters which makes them the 3rd largest exporter in the world. Chinese Taipei highlighted how one successful fastener industry firm grew from a SME to a MNC in 30 years.

DESCRIPTION:The presentation gave an updates on what has been done within the “Productive Diversification Plan” which was launched by the Ministry of Production of Peru one and a half year ago. The Plan combines cross-cutting policies to strengthen fundamental capacities along with vertical policies that pay attention to specific sectors.

DESCRIPTION:SMEs’ Single Book Keeping Scheme” is part of the Thai government’s measures to strengthen SMEs access to finance with a single set of accounts and encourage them to comply with the tax laws. SMEs that have registered capital of no more than 5 million Baht and income of no more than 30 million Baht who have registered with the Revenue Department since 15 January, 2016, till 15 March, 2016, must inform the Revenue Department that they will open an account that shows their income and financial budget to be in line with the real business situation (single account). The Revenue Department will not inspect any retrospective tax even if it is tax of a juristic entity, VAT, business tax, or revenue stamp, so in order to have knowledge and understanding relating to the correct process of bookkeeping, as well as actually work and draft an appropriate investment plan for the business.

DESCRIPTION:This project provided a mentorship-driven platform for start-ups to connect with the trusted partners and smart money in APEC. There were over 90 start-ups selected as finalists of APEC Challenge and secured totally over 50 million USD early-stage investments since 2013. The conclusion was that the next steps to further facilitate SME’s growth and access to regional and global market are: (i) to optimize the conducive innovation environment; (ii) to enhance digital competitiveness; and (iii) to capitalize on O2O opportunities for innovative start-ups and SMEs through PPP.

DESCRIPTION:Korean government’s presentation on SME support programs which contributed to the success of a female entrepreneur in the Chinese market. Her company faced with many difficulties when established and she decided to enter overseas markets in 2013. However, problems arose in that course, including lack of information, language barrier, and high cost of marketing. Then, in 2015, the company participated in a government assistance program named ‘Global Distribution Network Program’ that was jointly run by SMBA, Small and Medium Business Administration, and SBC, Small and medium Business Corporation. Thanks to that, the company was offered with opportunities to sell its products on a highest-rated home shopping network in China.

DESCRIPTION:Thailand presented the cooperation model between the Office of SMEs Promotion and the Stock Exchange of Thailand in identifying and incubating SMEs which have high potential to raise fund and be listed in the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) or the stock market for SMEs. It highlighted two SMEs companies in non-hi-tech sector that had got access to MAI. These two SMEs role models represent which rose from being micro enterprise to larger firms with international presence through the opportunity to raise fund in the stock market

DESCRIPTION:In response to Leaders and Ministers’ instruction on promoting digital access for SMEs, the O2O initiative is designed with a 4-year framework and the 4 solid pillars to involve the private sector, international organizations such as ICC and OECD, other APEC fora and the SMEWG.

DESCRIPTION:The 3rd SME Business Ethics Forum was held in Lima, Peru on September 5-6 for three sectors: medical devices, biopharmaceutical, and construction-engineering.

DESCRIPTION:Workshop held in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on 26 – 27 May 2016. Structured in 5 sessions: (i) Overview of SMEs’ participation in the Regional Food Supply Chains; (ii) Impediments to SMEs’ participation in the regional food supply chain; (iii) Critical issues and support for SMEs’ participation in the Food Supply Chain; (iv) Experiences in promoting SMEs’ efficient participation in the Regional Food Supply Chain; and (v) Case Studies of SMEs’ participation in the food supply chain

DESCRIPTION:Japan introduced the experience gained from the effort involved in Japan’s general accounting standard for SMEs to share what they have done for the voluntary development of SMEs. Many SMEs in Japan are often not aware that the accounting processes are important for the company management. The ERIA survey 2015 found that this is a common situation in each economy. As the government agency, Japan presented that it is significant to select the target in SMEs, to implement measures tailored to the stage rather than to equate all SMEs, to make SMEs interested in without pressing.

DESCRIPTION:Japan introduced the experience gained from the effort involved in Japan’s general accounting standard for SMEs to share what they have done for the voluntary development of SMEs. Many SMEs in Japan are often not aware that the accounting processes are important for the company management. The ERIA survey 2015 found that this is a common situation in each economy. As the government agency, Japan presented that it is significant to select the target in SMEs, to implement measures tailored to the stage rather than to equate all SMEs, to make SMEs interested in without pressing.

DESCRIPTION:Chinese Taipei shared their experience in promoting SMEs in GVCs through turning from manufacturers into solution providers in terms of recycling PET bottles to functional textile. Companies transformed PET into technical fibre and established their own brands of sporting goods which attached to environment-friendly products. A specific case study is the S.Café® series with the growth of 22% CAGR in 2009-2013 and co-brand with international firms.

DESCRIPTION:China introduced the Global SME Cross-border Matchmaking Service which was provided by the Bank of China. The purposes are to improve connection and communication for SMEs. Six steps concerning this service was introduced. Until now, in order to match make, workshops have been organized with 30,000 participants from 56 economies over 5 continents. In the future, China plans to strengthen ties with other economies to jointly stage matchmaking activities.

DESCRIPTION:Nanjing, the host city of the 21st APEC SME Ministerial Meeting, has been leading various efforts to empower SMEs innovative and sustainable growth. One of their main strategies was to set up Nanjing SME IT Adoption Service Center. Through the evolvement of the organization and its activities in the last several years, they have accumulated successful experiences on how to promote the use of ICT among SMEs and on how to improve the level of ICT adoption in manufacture-on-demand, e-commerce application, logistics and supply chain collaboration, business management and others.

DESCRIPTION:Guided by the Export Development Plan and overseen by the Export Development Council (EDC), a plan to promote exports was formulated and put in place with two prongs, i.e. to increase SMEs participating in export and to diversify both products and markets. Various programs were introduced to support SMEs Internationalization, e.g. supporting start-ups, export competitiveness and doing business in FTAs, etc.

DESCRIPTION:Hong Kong, China shared their experience in assisting SMEs’ access to the global markets. Through the work of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a trade promotion body, SMEs in Hong Kong, China were able to explore a world of business opportunities. In addition, different government finance support measures, export credit insurance and general support such as SME centres enhanced SMEs’ capabilities in engaging in global business.

DESCRIPTION:This project aims to provide a cross-border platform to modernize and facilitate SME’s participation in global value chains. Strong public-private partnership is the key making this project successful. Under this project, 5 serial O2O events has been held in Chinese Taipei, Viet Nam and Peru with the focus on the 4 main O2O innovation areas, namely, “Mobile Commerce”, “Sharing Economy”, “Collaborative Industry” and “NexGen Innovation”. An “APEC Guidebook on SME O2O” was published in November 2016.

DESCRIPTION:Government organizations such as SMBA, Korea Customs Service, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and SME-support organizations such as Korea Federation of SMEs are working closely together to implement various policies to support Korean SMEs to make proper use of FTAs.

DESCRIPTION:Singapore shared its experience in building a vibrant e-commerce business environment. The growth of e-commerce market, especially in ASEAN, had brought about new opportunities for retailers. Singapore had developed 3 strategies – build enterprise e-commerce capabilities, strengthen infrastructure and network for economies of scale and help retailers capture e-commerce market potential. Government could support retailers by developing the digital infrastructure and facilitate retailer’s partnership with private sectors in developing e-commerce platforms. On the other hand, retailers had to strengthen its e-commerce capabilities and capture market opportunities presented by the established network of partners, especially in APEC.

DESCRIPTION:The main goal of the research is to systemize the practices of APEC economies in the field of cooperation of SMEs with corporate and public sector. The typical barriers that SMEs face in their cooperation with corporate and public sectors as suppliers are mostly related to financial issues. At the same time corporations and public sector identified limited production capacities, insufficient quality standards, incomparability of technical tools and difficulties in communication with foreign partners as the main barriers. The survey also reveals information on opportunities for foreign SMEs to participate in public procurement; share of SME in public procurement, special regulations for access of SMEs; systemized open source of information online available for SMEs.

DESCRIPTION:The elaboration of a Consensus Framework for Multi-Stakeholder Ethical Collaboration in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors, brought together relevant actors in healthcare system under a common platform. The Framework was endorsed under the APEC Nanjing Declaration.

DESCRIPTION:The APEC SME Internationalization Model Indices was developed per individual economy as well as APEC as the whole thanks to the data collected through pilot studies from 5 member economies. As for analysis, the SME internationalization was examined in terms of the economy-industry-firm size aspect, the diversity-intensity relationship and the major determinants. Major research results included: 1) The larger the firm size, the higher the internationalization level of SMEs; 2) The diversity of SME internationalization is generally higher than the Intensity across all economies; and 3) Firm size, R&D, export history, openness and industry characteristics matter for SME internationalization, but readiness to market advance and government support have little or significant impact on internationalization. In order to share the results of the project and to discuss ways to globalize SMEs in the APEC region, Korea’s Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) and Small and medium Business Corporation(SBC) hold a workshop in Seoul, Korea in October 2016 (SME 05 2016S)

DESCRIPTION:APEC e-commerce forum was held from November 26 to 28, 2015 in Jeju city, Korea. The purpose of the event was to provide a place to discuss the e-commerce industry for industry experts and policy makers. This forum contributed to increasing people’s understanding about the e-commerce industry, and sharing the most up-to-date information on the e-commerce industry.

DESCRIPTION:Simple, easy and free-of-charge business licensing for micro and small enterprises (MSE).The license provides protection for MSE in doing businesses at the designated location, access to business mentoring, and access to financial sources by registering and opening saving account at the government owned banks. Since the first launched of the initiatives in 2015, 175,646 business licenses were issued and 12,643 new saving accounts were opened at the BRI (Government owned bank).

DESCRIPTION:To enhance entrepreneurial activity in Russia and to increase the visibility and accessibility of support to SMEs, the Joint-Stock Company Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation (RSMB Corporation) was established in 2015. There are five main activity areas: (i) Providing better access to procurement of companies with state ownership, (ii) SMEs financing support including loans and guarantee support, (iii) Information and marketing support, (iv) Property support, and (v) Legal support. A 10% quota for procurement from SMEs was established by law for the companies with state ownership, which is monitored by RSMB Corporation. As the result, product range of state-owned companies available for SMEs has increased by 26 times. National Guarantee System (NGS) based on 3-level model of MSME credit guarantee support was established. If the companies have projects in priority sectors of Russian economy, RSMB Corporation implements a special Program that fixes interest rate on loans amount from 740 thousand USD at 11% for small companies and at 10% for medium-sized companies. Due to the specific features of Russian SMEs and short history of private business in Russia there was specially designed Business Navigator – a web tool for businesses. Its goal is to help the entrepreneur to find the proper location and the proper type of business to start and where to address to receive information, finance, property and legal support.

DESCRIPTION:Dare a focal agency to nurture and support SME development in Brunei. This is part of Brunei Government’s new initiatives to provide an effective and attractive ecosystem to spur and stimulate positive growth of Brunei SMEs.

DESCRIPTION:Presentation on the financial instruments to promote SMEs credit. The presentation referred to factoring as a financing mechanism for SMEs, going through a quick reminder of what was the context of factoring in Peru, the bottlenecks found and current status. This review would lay the ground for the economy to explore the best practices and achievements in this specific area.

DESCRIPTION:The workshop was held by the Philippines and the United States in Atlanta, the United States on 8-9 June 2015. It identified four major challenges that SMEs were facing in terms of non-tariff measures, including poor access to information on NTMs and GVCs, high cost of compliance with NTMs, and low readiness to join GVCs. A number of short-term and mid-term actions were recommended.