Expanding the Benefits of Cooperation for SMES

This Joint Ministerial Statement from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) small and medium enterprise ministerial meeting held in Acapulco, Mexico in August 2002, highlights the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in ensuring sustainable economic growth in the APEC region. It demonstrates APEC member economies' commitment to achieving a sound framework in order to bring about sustainable economic growth in the region.

Ministers reiterated that SMEs in APEC, including micro-enterprises, could make meaningful contributions towards the expansion and acceleration of trade and investment. They held discussions on how APEC SMEs could best contribute to economic growth in the APEC region and respond to the challenges emerging in the new century. Their discussion focused on the issues of policy environment, sustainable development, and regionalism. Ministers called for further attention to:

• Microfinancing and capital markets;
• Human capacity building;
• Access to information;
• Technology and technology sharing;
• Access to markets;
• Access to transparent legal and regulatory environment;
• Microfinance as a sustainable development tool;
• Seed and venture capital business, and guarantee funds;
• Incubation policy towards start-up SMEs;
• Knowledge platform for business start-ups.