APEC SME Ministerial Meeting in HCM City

Three important documents were adopted at the 24th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting that wrapped up on Sept. 15 in HCM City.

They are the APEC SME Ministers’ Initiative on Promoting Innovative Start-ups， the Strategy on Green， Sustainable and Innovative MSMEs and the 24th SME Ministers Statement， and all emphasise the importance of developing small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） by APEC members.

Speaking to the media， Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung， the chair of the 24th APEC SME Ministerial Meeting， said the APEC SME Ministers’ Initiative on Promoting Innovative Start-ups and the Strategy on Green， Sustainable and Innovative MSMEs are expected to be submitted for the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders Week in Da Nang in November.

During the week-long （Sept. 10-15） 2017 APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting， a series of meetings and forums took place， like the 2017 APEC Online-to-Offline Initiative Forum， APEC SME Finance Forum， APEC Start-up Forum， Digital Economy Forum， and the 45th Meeting of the APEC Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Working Group.

The APEC SME Ministerial Meetings， held annually since 1994， sets out the direction for the Working Group. In September last year the SME Ministers endorsed the SMEWG Strategic Plan for 2017-20 which provided a roadmap to address critical issues pertaining to the growth of SMEs and micro enterprises in the APEC region like entrepreneurship， innovation and the internet and digital economy； financing for business expansion and capability development； inclusive business eco-system that supports SME growth； and market access for SMEs.

The next SME Ministerial Meeting will be held in Papua New Guinea.