economic cooperation apec sme monitor 21

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Contents
Foreword 01 Build Digital Resilience 02 Create Digital Competitiveness 08 From O2O 1.0 to 4.0 12 APEC SME Best Practices 15 APEC News 21
ISSUE 21
Publisher: Ming-Ji Wu Editor-in-Chief: Ko Hsiung Lien Published by APEC SME Crisis Management Center Website: http://www.apecscmc.org Email: [email protected] Supervised by Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs,Chinese Taipei
Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future In the fast-changing age of digital economy, "Information Technology" (IT) has evolved to current
"Data Technology" (DT). Reflecting on business behaviors, it means the era of supply-oriented market in the past no longer exists. Instead, the future is becoming demand-oriented. Only enterprises that seize the opportunities of "Blue Ocean" brought by digital economy, meet or even surpass the potential demands of the market, and make consumers identify with their value proposition can maintain the competitiveness and embrace a bright future.
According to a report from MIT Sloan School of Management, enterprises, which can adapt in digital economy, grab 26% more profit than others. In APEC region, small and medium enterprises account for 98% of total business unit, and contribute 63% job opportunities. Currently APEC focus on strengthening the digital competitiveness of SMEs, so as to create new dynamism and foster a shared future. Furthermore, SMEs are the impetus to economy and innovation development, and also the pillar of sustainable supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region. In digital economy, to reinforce digital resilience1 and secure digital property are essential to SMEs' business continuity planning.
Another related term, digital information, is an essential element within an organization in managing performance, ensuring reliable processes and protecting the quality of the end product. Crucially, it is the key in maintaining transparency and trust for the customers. According to the new release distributed by Trend Micro, the global leading security software company, 2016 turns out as the year of online extortion. Compared to 2015, the number of new ransomware families in the first half of 2016 grow by 172%. Besides, the FBI released an announcement about the business email compromise (BEC) scams, which have caused over 22,000 targeted companies and US$3 billion losses in 2016. Above facts indicate the crucial role of digital resilience. To stand out in the digital age, it matters whether the viewpoints of top executives in enterprises can move with the times or not.
This issue of APEC SME Monitor covers a wide range of topics including the discussion of the important role that SME's digital resilience plays; best practice of cross border e-commerce; observation of online- to-offline (O2O) development from a venture capitalist perspective; the outcome of Chinese Taipei' s O2O initiative in APEC; and 2016 APEC SME Ministerial Statement. In the digital age, we hope to attract APEC economies' attentions on digital resilience and competitiveness, so as to enable SMEs to create new dynamism and enjoy a shared future.
1 The so called digital resilience is as part of an approach of organizational resilience helping an organization to stand the test of time while remaining profitable, and above all secure.
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APEC SME Best Practices
Resilience Create Digital
Build Digital Resilience An Overview of International Digital Policies
SMEs play a crucial role in Chinese Taipei ' s social and economic development. In 2014, the number of SMEs reached 1.35 million, accounting for 97.6 percent of all enterprises in Chinese Taipei. From the perspective of business operation continuity, SMEs are characterized with agile and flexible in facing external changes, such as industry transformation, natural disaster and social turmoil. The so-called "Resilience" refers to the capacity to adjust when encountering pressure and disaster, so as to maintain continuous operation before the turmoil reach a certain critical point.
Enterprise' s resilience can demonstrate in many different aspects. Lately, with the quick development of ICT infrastructure, enterprise' s digital competitiveness becomes a hot issue. Digital competi t iveness ref lects in how enterprise adapts the ever- changing information technology, so as to widen the gap with other competitors. Pursuing digital competitiveness makes the value of digital information getting higher, in the meantime, it' s inevitable to pay attention to digital resilience. We can say that the more one organization involves in digitalization of information, the more important digital resilience becomes.
SME' s digital resilience is a synonyms of information security. As we know, the organization of SME is smaller with less resource, which makes SMEs distribute the resource in a worthy way. To ensure the flexibility of business operation and the timeliness of market entering, SMEs rarely set up standard operating procedure (SOP) of information technology, let alone put information security into operating procedure. This features have left SME vulnerable to hacker attacks, directly leading to loss on money or business operation.
Here are the common styles, leading Chinese Taipei SMEs' losses in information security- Business email compromise (BEC), ransomware and data leakage. According to the statistics from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), from 2015 to the first half of 2016, the global losses of BEC is 3.1 billion US dollar. In the first quarter of 2016, global losses of Ransomware is over two hundred million US dollar, which not includes the unreported ransomware scam. To maintain enterprise' s sustained operation, SMEs should think about how to reinforce their digital resilience, so as to deal with information security problems.
When it comes to digital resilience, the main issue SMEs need to cope with is staff lack know- how and awareness of information security, and organization lacks SOP of information security management.
Samson Tai
1. Staff lack know-how and awareness of information security:
This usually takes place on employees, managers and even the owners. Hackers take advantage of following situations to proceed BEC or ransomware scam- making use of information appliance or mobile device without separating working and private information; lacking ability to identify safe webpages; opening e-mail without proper awareness; and randomly clicking the link or attachments.
2. Organization lacks SOP of information security management:
This kind of situation is common among SMEs, indicating the owner is insufficient in awareness of information security. This situation is in the form of- improper back-up; making use of past edition of software; without regular up-dating, no access of solution, paying the ransom payment without reporting to relative authorities.
With limited resource, SMEs are advised to take following 2 ways to solve above problems. In the end, the goal is to establish and implement the SOP of information security management.
1. Ordinary day:
(1) Security best practices: holding training course for staff on regular basis.
(2) Data back-up and system update: following the 3-2-1 rule- 3 copies of data, 2 media types, and 1 backup offsite; installing legal software; updating programs to fix problems.
2. Emergent situation:
(1) Notifying relative authorities and staff timely: to reduce the loss, internally, reporting to unit manager, IT staff or subcontractor; externally, reporting to the authorities, such as criminal investigation bureau.
(2) Looking for professional assistance: keeping the original equipment and contacting experts.
With rapid ICT development, the environment is changing. SMEs should value digital resilience as a basic way of sustainable operation, and request prompt assistance once damage take place, so as to reduce the loss.
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Technology Innovation Undergoes Tremendous Progress Technology is changing rapidly. According to the WEF 2016
report , nine technologies, including Cloud Technology, Big Data, IoT, Sharing Economy, Robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have major impacts on human life. In addition, the more- powerful smart devices and cloud computing applications are good representatives of how innovative technology dramatically change human life and organization behaviors. However, the leaps in technological growths also brought information security challenges to organizations.
This art icle brought up three major areas of information securities in the environment of innovative technology: Cloud/ Information security, Personal Information & Privacy Protection and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection. The article is expected to provide organizations with key points of how to protect information in response to today' s technology development and international trends. Organizations should be able to follow the trends and operate in an environment in which they can enjoy the technology without worrying the security.
Peter Pu
Cloud/ Information Security Concepts and applications of Cloud Computing attract constant attentions. Innovative
applications from Google and Apple are popular topics that excite the public. According to a research report from McKinsey & Company, if co-location service, network management service and software updates are all moved to the cloud, an organization of 200 employees could be looking at a 30% cost savings solely in software management. Market research firms also list cloud computing on the top of the ten future trends in IT industry.
Although cloud technology could lower operation cost and increase efficiency, it also comes with security challenges, especially in information security, personal information and high availability of centralized remote system management (to ensure continuous operation). The fact that anyone can easily upload, download and exchange all kinds of information and image forces organizations to deal with information security risks caused by these applications.
ISO 27001:2013 is the publicly accepted international standard for information security. By implementing the related directions and controls, organizations can identify, manage and reduce various information security risks. ISO 27001 includes PDCA structure required for building a management system and a broad scope of security controls. Below is a list of the 14 groups (total 114 controls):
A.5 Information Security Policies A.5.1 Management direction for information security
A.6 Organization of information security A.6.1 Internal organizations A.6.2 Mobile devices and teleworking
A.7 Human resource security
A.7.1 Prior to employment
A.8 Asset management A.8.1 Responsibility for assets
A.8.2 Information classification A.8.3 Media handling
A.9 Access control A.9.1 Business requirements of access control
A.9.2 User access management
A.10 Cryptography A.10.1 Cryptographic controls A.11 Physical and environmental security A.11.1 Secure areas A.11.2 Equipment
A.12 Operations security
A.12.2 Protection from malware A.12.3 Backup A.12.4 Logging and
monitoring
A.12.6 Technical vulnerability management
A.13 Communications security A.13.1 Network security management A.13.2 Information transfer
A.14 System acquisition, development and maintenance
A.14.1 Security requirements of information systems
A.14.2 Security in development and support processes
A.14.3 Test data
A.15 Supplier relationships
A.16 Information security incident management A.16.1 Management of information security incidents and improvements
A.17 Information security aspects of business continuity
A.17.1 Information security continuity A.17.2 Redundancies
A.18 Compliance A.18.1 Compliance with legal and contractual requirements A.18.2 Information security reviews
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Besides ISO 27001, there is a guideline for cloud computing and services – ISO/IEC 27017 & 27018, which helps organizations enhance security for cloud computing and service based on current ISMS. However, how an organization presents its cloud computing and services (especially public cloud) highly depends on the organization' s experience of managing information security. Organizations also need to face impacts and challenges brought by the related trend changes, for example, according to 2011 State of Cloud Survey conducted by Symantec, "less than 1 in 4 computer staffers have cloud experience" and roughly half of the organizations surveyed rated their IT employees as somewhat ready for managing and moving to cloud. Therefore, both external cloud service provider (e.g. public cloud) and internal cloud service provider (e.g. private cloud) have to satisfy international standards and requirement of related controls and effectively manage information security.
Personal Information & Privacy Protection Following the pass of the Personal Information Protection Act, Chinese Taipei not only created
written regulations to protect personal information and privacy, but also established a milestone for human rights protection. Developed countries in the world all have legislations to ensure personal information is under protection and is handled properly. For example, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Japan all have legislative regulations to protect personal information and information security.
The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published BS 10012 Personal Information Management System (PIMS) for several years. The standard specifically explains requirements for personal information protection and offers a PDCA management structure based on OECD Privacy Framework. The standard allows organizations to maintain and improve their compliance with the information protection acts and success cases.
A broad and deep user base is involved during the process of collecting, processing (includes using, storing, delivering, archiving or destroying), utilizing and internationally exchanging personal information. No matter it is management-related or technic-related knowledge, a great amount of professionalism and techniques are required. Organizations shall plan proper trainings to not only enhance knowledge management in the organizations but also improve personal competencies by helping employees acquire certificates.
Organizations shall actively plan and execute tasks related to personal information protection. Processes adopted by other countries in the world could be good references. In addition, organizations can confirm that they have enough protection abilities by going through detailed steps of how they handle personal information in the current processes and combining the processes with prevention and control policies and procedures.
Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Key elements of operations are quality and customer satisfaction. Under the development
of innovative technology, digitalization has become a clear path to improve organizational competitiveness. During the rapid development process of information applications, besides
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providing innovative service content and information security, finding ways to provide good and reliable services by ensuring continuous operation and keeping key information infrastructure available (e.g. water, electricity, communication, internet and information system) have become basic requirements for quality improvement and customer satisfaction. According to international statistics, thousands of organizations face risks of interruption of operation each year. Such risks could be as trivial as a black out or as significant as a massive terror attack. The interruption of operation could cause "domino effect" and might jeopardize national or international infrastructure.
ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) was published in response to the strong demand and attracted international attention. Many organizations work hard to introduce and implement the standard. The requirements of building and maintaining a continuity management system described by the ISO 22301 allow organizations to effectively prevent operational interruptions and be prepared for unavoidable interruptions. For example, organizations should plan and prepare resources for emergency response and should be able to gather people or relocate to a different work place in response to emergencies without warnings.
There are several stages when an incident occurs. The critical parts during the initial stage after an incident occurs are to help and save injured people and deal with damage containment. An early warning and reporting system is accounted for an immediate emergency response plan to prevent the event from deteriorating to an organizational crisis.
Conclusion By referencing key emphases and standards mentioned above, organizations can create a
good system to respond to technological risks with larger impacts on the operation, reinforce stakeholders' requirements and confidence, and improve organizational competiveness and resilience.
Figure1. Incident Timeline
Competitiveness
The Rise of A 10-Year Surging Wave of O2O An Era of Online/Offline Integration- Game Changer to Traditional E-Commerce and Retailers
If we define the main stream e-commerce that's been popular since 1995 as "buying physical products through the Internet", the O2O is in fact "getting services through the Internet". Some services people enjoy, for example, restaurants and SPA, are difficult to be delivered by "delivery drivers", instead, the services require customers come to the places where the services are offered. Therefore, O2O can also be called "Service EC".
However, most of the times, physical products and services are sold together. For example, cosmetic brands hire retail associates to offer services like skin tests or cosmetic advisories. Besides, one cannot purchase a suit without measuring and tailoring services. Hence, since that smart phones are so popular in modern times, O2O won't stop at e-commerce companies, instead, O2O will be linked with tools like Apps, big data and LBS to integrate products and service experience, offering a more abundant and more satisfying shopping experience.
Nevertheless, shopping is after all a complicated process. In an online/offline integrated world, it' s worthy for us to further discuss how brands and channels gain customer trust, loyalty and exchange values with consumers.
Consumers: More Convenient, More Efficient Service Let's discuss changes O2O has brought by looking at consumer experience. On the one hand,
when consumers shop online, pictures, videos and descriptions are normally the only references they have to picture the products or services. On the other hand, when consumers shop offline, although they can physically experience the environment, their access to services is limited to geographical locations and business hours which are not available 24/7.
In the world of O2O, the problems that traditional e-commerce companies and retailers face could be greatly reduced and improved.
1. Before the purchase: A store with online/offline integration allows consumers to access necessary information anytime through Internet and online customer service representatives. For example, the information includes store location, business hours, service provided, available styles and inventory, if trials are available or if reservations are required. The information help consumers plan their visiting schedule efficiently. On the other hand, consumers who shop offline can get information such as detailed product description,
APEC Digital Economy Initiatives
reviews and even personalized recommendations through interactive screens on site and applications on smartphones.
2. During the purchase: Products or styles being out of stock is the most annoying problem during shopping. O2O retailers share inventory status and locations so that consumers wouldn't waste a trip or have to go through the regret of not being able to buy a certain product. During the transaction, O2O retailers can integrate e-payment and online member accounts so that customers can easily pay and obtain member bonuses. On the logistics side, consumers are free to choose their preferred delivery method, delivery schedule and preferred ways of delivery.
3. After purchase: No matter a consumer needs help with the products or with return or exchange process, by allowing consumers to choose online or offline services, O2O businesses offer more convenient after-sales and peace of mind guarantees.
In other words, in a world of online/offline integration, no matter customers are before, during or after the purchase, they can enjoy gigantic increases in convenience while spend dramatically less time and waste much less money when shopping.
Businesses: Stimulator to Boost Revenue Online/offline integration not only benefits consumers but also help businesses solve problems
that' s been around for years, granting them access to a new world.
In today' s business world, online and offline are treated as parallel universes. For example, offline POS devises are usually not connected to online e-commerce system. Therefore, purchases made at a physical store are not linked to a customer' s browsing and purchasing history online, creating a huge gap for customer services. Even though customer service representatives did everything they can to try to offer a better experience to customers, they couldn' t help but fail the tasks due to serious information gaps.
In contrast, businesses with O2O integration make add value to both online and offline businesses and build on larger momentum to generate revenue:
1. Reach customers more efficiently: In the past, if a brand broadcasts commercials through traditional media but doesn' t own an online retail channel, the brand would lose huge number of people who shop directly online. That is to say, the return on investment of the commercial cannot be maximized. Similarly, advertising online without physical stores or store information is hard to get also cost a brand to lose consumers who prefer onsite visits. O2O businesses reach both online and offline consumers more effectively and therefore can increase conversion rate and return on investment of all marketing activities.
2. Increase dollars spent per customer: O2O makes buying processes more convenient and more efficient. No matter consumers shop online or offline, O2O increases varieties of products customers bought and has a better chance that consumers would make the purchases.
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3. Boost return customer rates: O2O integrates online and offline membership systems that allow customers to utilize bonus benefits more flexibly and foster customer loyalty. By analyzing the integrated data, businesses get a better idea of customers' buying behaviors and are able to offer better services based on this. A better service leads to higher level of customer satisfaction and will boost return customer rates.
Based on the points made earlier, it' s easy to identify that system platform integration is in fact the hidden key to revenue for O2O businesses. As mobile payment becoming a mainstream payment method, businesses and consumers are closely tied together through a web application platform. Generally speaking, an O2O platform integrates below functions for companies:
1. The product side: Keep an inventory record and specification for various products and could go a step further by achieving automatic replenishment and transfer through system dispatches.
2. The member side: In addition to include basic member profile, the O2O platform also tracks member' s buying processes and preferences like browsing history, order amount, when a purchase was made, purchasing history in physical stores, a return customer or not, etc. By collecting and analyzing the information, businesses can plan a more effective membership benefits program to build stickier customer relationship. Furthermore, push notifications made by the platforms can increase repeat customer rates.
3. Marketing: Track effectiveness of cross-channel advertisement and plan a better targeted marketing strategy.
The forms of the platforms are different based on different sizes of businesses. Large franchises can develop integrated platforms on their own and link cash flows and logistics services. Small and medium sized businesses have limited resources and tend to use developed platforms available in the market or integrate functions into existing platforms in order to improve their services convenience. For instance, not long ago, two iconic e-commerce companies in Chinese Taipei, 91APP and Uitox announced their strategic alliance. They are going to combine 91APP' s experience of creating shopping portals, APPs, O2O retail stores, front-end membership sales mechanism and Uitox' s expertise in warehousing, logistics and cross-border management. Their "one-stop-shop for e-commerce businesses" is the service aims at helping small and medium sized businesses develop their own platforms and help them optimize services. Payment system providers such as PayPal, Gash Pay also started to use QR Code, NFC, Bluetooth technologies. On the one hand, they provide cash flow supports by linking services to large businesses platforms. On the other hand, they develop their own payment applications to attract small and medium sized businesses.
The Ultimate Goal of O2O: Seamless Buying Experience In the following 10 years of the surging wave of O2O, typical physical retail stores and virtual
e-commerce stores will transit to the O2O. When O2O goes mainstream, the industry in Chinese Taipei that has the most potential to exploit O2O for an industry upgrade is the service industry
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that averaging an annual production value of NTD 13.3 trillion. It is not conservative to say that service e-commerce companies in Chinese Taipei barely generate a gross annual revenue of NTD 100 billion, or a less than 1% penetration rate which has the potential to grow by 100 times. O2O combines the efficiency from online and service quality from offline to offer a better and comprehensive user experience. O2O is expected to elevate relationships between consumers and brands to a whole new level. After all, what drives the human purchasing behaviors is "user experience".
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O2O Commerce in Full Swing: Meet O2O 4.0 Potential at APEC O2O Summit in Taipei
The O2O market is estimated to be US$600 billion next year. What can we learn from the 12 Best Practices from APEC selected by professional judges to find the next gold mine?
Service is the Key to Continued Success O2O(Online-to-Offline) connects e-commerce to the physical world. It may sound simple, but
requires a great deal of innovation. In the past, B2C and C2C e-commerce business models end commercial activities when goods and payments exchange hands. However, in the case of O2O, after online shopping, consumers can enjoy services in offline physical stores. In order for O2O consumers to keep buying, there have to be really strong incentives.
There are four key areas: O2O 1.0 to 4.0 O2O 1.0 Mobile Commerce: the key to attract eyeballs of consumers
M-commerce is a good option to jump on the O2O bandwagon. It has the lowest threshold, most opportunities but hottest competition. According to Goldman Sachs, global mobile payment market will reach as high as US$626 billion in 2018. Transactions can be done on mobile phones or tablets. There are many success cases.
The app service "Whoscall" developed by Gogolook Co, Ltd identifies incoming calls and allows users to filter out unwanted numbers. It not only attracts consumers' eyeballs but profits by selling advertising space to companies, turning each incoming and outgoing call into a business opportunity.
Another example of M-commerce application is mobile payment technology. Soundnet Tech Co., Ltd uses a supersonic wave transmission technology that al lows consumers to receive customized information on their smartphones wi thout addi t iona l hardware devices . When consumers enter a physical store, they can pay with their phones through supersonic waves. Figure 3. Acer Award Winner - TerraBlue XT (India)
Figure 2. Acer Award Winner- Chilenter (Chile)
From O2O 1.0 to 4.0
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An important aspect of M-commerce is mobile information security. Teamplus Technology Inc. combines Facebook, LINE, address book, calendar and other similar functions in one app to protect your trade secrets and provide the best mobile office solution. China Airlines, EVA Air and Innolux Corporation are all Teamplus' clients. The highest number of users within a single company is $30,000.
O2O 2.0 Sharing Economy: make use of idle assets to bring in extra money
Uber and AirBnB create a new form of sharing economy and prove that intangible knowledge can be profitable. Through its website, Viet Nam' s Triip Pte, Ltd provides individual travelers with customized and in-depth tours designed and guided by local experts.
Fundación Chilenter from Chile recycles usable parts of waste electronic products, refurbishes and gives them to schools and NPOs to reduce environmental hazards. Chilenter also helps educational institutions, enterprises and social organizations establish e-waste recycling centers, promoting accountable management of e-waste.
OurCityLove Inc. provides audio guide service that helps the visually impaired order meals in a restaurant without making an effort. Currently, more than 3000 restaurants in Chinese Taipei; Hong Kong, China; and Malaysia use this service. Hong Kong, China' s leading food & beverage company Maxim' s Group has introduced this service into 768 of its restaurants and shops.
The News Lens Co., Ltd provides diversified and alternative perspectives for the generation of social network through its Mandarin and English news reports, allowing netizens to freely discuss and share.
O2O 3 .0 Col laborat ive Industry: knowledge i s the power to enhance corporates ' competitiveness
In addition to existing business opportunities, companies can utilize the O2O model to integrate scattered resources in each department on the Internet, lower the threshold for beginners to enter the field and improve efficiency through smart production.
There is a shortcut for traditional manufacturers to access the O2O market. MoBagel Inc. allows clients to download its IoT firmware and app, lowering the threshold of entering the IoT scene and managing production data through cloud. Mosi Technologies, LLC provides facilities efficiency management solutions for clients to collect production information in real time, analyze scattered data on a platform, monitor the efficiency and production utilization rate of machines so they can optimize their manufacturing processes.
O2O 4.0 Next Generation Innovation: O2O innovations in the Asia Pacific region amaze the world by tapping into the unlimited new business opportunities
The service sector can easily benefit from the IoT technologies, too. Incorporating Microsoft' s software packages, Docceo Inc. launched its hospitality solution DigiJames, which allows guests to wirelessly control the entertainment system, light settings, and air-con in their hotel room on a tablet or even order room service. The app also offers an interactive guide to the city with personalized suggestions for dining, shopping and sight-seeing. Docceo' s team members are from
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the US; Netherlands; Germany; Switzerland; and Chinese Taipei so they understand better the needs of American and European consumers.
The Indian Founder of TerraBlue XT Pte, Ltd. has a son who suffers from epilepsy, so she creates smart gloves using digital signal transmission technology that monitor body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure 24- hour a day. The product helps reveal the inner workings of the brain so that chronic diseases can be detected early, the root cause of nerve disorder can be discovered, and patients can improve their quality of life.
Installments Inc, a company from Chinese Taipei, allows small shops or even individuals to buy and sell products in the US market using customized installment plans. Traditionally, financing installment plans are mostly provided by banks, who only work with large stores. With Installments, the platform enables individuals and small vendors to sell their products directly to end consumers in installments.
In th is year ' s APEC O2O Summit , the two winners of the SMEA Award receive the opportunity to attend the APEC SME O2O Forum II co-organized by Chinese Taipei and Peru at the margin of the 23rd Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru.
Figure 4. Teams pitch their innovative ideas at APEC O2O Summit 2016
Figure 5. SMEA Award Winner - The News Lens (Chinese Taipei)
Figure 6. SMEA Award Winner-Installments (Chinese Taipei)
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APEC SME Best Practice
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Evolution of Startup Ecosystem in Chinese Taipei from the Perspective of 2012 APEC Conference
Starting our own business in 2007, we have experienced many unforgettable momentums, including AltasPost, our first company was merged by the biggest group buying website, Groupon in 2010; KuoBrothers, the second company established in 2016, went to IPO in Chinese Taipei Stock Exchange. Besides, we were honored to be invited to APEC Startup Conference, held in Seoul, Korea; and the 35th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia. We together with other entrepreneurs from APEC economies exchanged ideas about how to make use of the resources from accelerators to start a business. As an entrepreneur in internet industry, it is excited to see the authority' s determination in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Since 2012, there are so many concrete results that we can easily perceive.
In the past few years, there are many incubation centers established in Chinese Taipei. Those centers target to help entrepreneurs deal with many whole-new tasks, such as staff recruit, accounting, legal advice, fundraising and business model. However, many of those incubation centers rely on government projects; moreover, they lack entrepreneurship experience. Therefore, in reality, the resources that incubation centers can offer to startups are rare; and in the end, they turn out to be cheap co-working space rent.
Since 2012, there are more and more accelerators springing up in Chinese Taipei. The main difference between accelerator and traditional incubation center is the former to offer prototype test, verifying the validity of product. In real world, with low success rate, the highest cost of entrepreneurship is time rather than funding. Startups may save time of try-and-error from prototype test, and even receive venture capital fund after passing the test. AppWorks Accelerator is the typical case of offering aforementioned services in Chinese Taipei.
Besides, rigid regulations are the obstacle that startups need to cope with when starting businesses. In the past few years, the government has been dedicated to amend company act; therefore, now startups are no more subject to the par value of NTD 10 per share when conducting an initial public offering. Furthermore, foreign entrepreneur-visa-application has been deregulated, in a bid to attract talents. For both domestic and foreign startups, Chinese Taipei offers a favorable market-testing platform, since its population and territory are neither too huge as China or United States, nor too small to test; its technology and accessibility are ranked as top-notch; and it locates in the center of East Asia with easy access to the market of Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. It is appealing for startups to test product and keep on optimizing it in the market of Chinese Taipei, and then expand the experience here to other East Asia market.
Jerry Su-Chi Kuo
Co-Founder of KuoBrothers
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To be an optimal experimental arena in East Asia, it is insufficient to just amend company act. We need to be aware that various industries have involved in online business; such as Uber, an online transportation network company, but is in jurisdiction of Ministry of Transportation and Communication; and the ongoing debate over online alcohol sales is in jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Finance. Therefore, it is important that how every ministry coworks and takes actions in the digital economy. If Chinese Taipei can move forward to the optimal experimental arena in APEC, more startups at home and broad will be interested in starting their business here, so as to promote national competitiveness in digital economy. This is why the regulations play a role in innovation, as they can be the key factors for enabling or impeding the operation of startups.
Though Chinese Taipei is not a huge market, it takes advantage in talents and innovative products. However, in the digital age, the advantages may vanish along with the restrictions of regulations. In the long run, this will lead to brain drain and bad impact upon national competitiveness. To seize the opportunities in internet economy, we have taken first step by establishing incubation centers and accelerators, and now the government should deregulate the market to attract the best business models all over the world to test their products in Chinese Taipei. Don' t forget how Uber and Airbnb can turn into the most innovative online companies with high valuation. If they launched and tested the services in a market deeming them illegal, how would they succeed!?
Entrepreneurship and Innovation for a Digital Economy
I am founder of Holosens, a company in Lima, Peru that has incubated and advised Startups in the Digital Economy such as KaraokeSmart, Hoope, Joinnus, Reclutec, Empresabio, Nutrishake, amongst others; which have received research and development grants, and seed capital from accelerators like Telefonica' s Wayra, 500 Startups from Silicon Valley, Startup Chile, Startup Brazil, Startup Mexico, Startup Peru and angel investors.
Cinepapaya, one of the R&D Project in Holosens, was made as a spinoff startup and incorporated as a new company. Then I become the founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Cinapapaya. From 2011 till now, Cinepapaya serves users in 29 countries across the world, including 7 APEC economies like Peru, Mexico, Chile, the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. We are generating 2.5 million dollars in ticket sales every month, we have 4 million unique monthly visits, and we are growing at almost 25% per month in every metric. We currently employ 65 people and we are actively looking to hire more talent. One of my most important milestones was to be selected a Growth Stage Winner at the Intel APEC Challenge in Chinese Taipei in 2013.
In my company Holosens, I have also incubated the Global Impact Competition of Singularity University in Peru, a challenge to find the most innovative Peruvian entrepreneurs, who are working in Science, Technology and Innovation. Each year, we award two (2) winners a confirmed spot at Singularity University to participate in their 10-week Program at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, with the objective to use exponential technologies to develop solutions to grand global challenges through startups that can positively impact the lives millions of people around the world.
For me, a s tar tup is an adventure, with risk and uncertainty, where a team of diverse, multidisciplinary and talented people come together sharing a common mission, and who are not afraid to experiment and fail, but have the collective passion and determination to keep trying again and again, until they find their own path to success.
The character in the Iron Man movies is
Gary Urteaga1
Founder of Holosens and Cinapapaya 1 PhD Candidate and Master in International Political Economy from Tsukuba University in Japan, Master in Science of Economics from Florida State University Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures Program at Harvard Business School and the Innovation and Growth Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. <gary. [email protected]>
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actually inspired by Elon Musk, an amazing entrepreneur that has founded companies like Paypal, Tesla and SpaceX. But I think that all entrepreneurs are superheroes, and it is our duty as an ecosystem to identify them and help them develop their talents and enhance their super powers of creativity and innovation.
This is my definition of a Startup: "New businesses led by entrepreneurs with technical and creative skills for innovation in products and services, with accelerated growth in users, cus tomers and sa les , becoming a t t rac t ive opportunities for investors."
But an entrepreneur cannot be alone; they require the support of other people with the knowledge and expertise to accelerate their learning process and execution abilities. But also, the entrepreneur leads and carries the hope of his entire community behind him.
S ta r tups do no t appea r spon taneous ly f r o m n o t h i n g . S t a r t u p s g r o w w i t h i n a n e c o s y s t e m , w h e r e e v e r y t h i n g g r a v i t a t e s around entrepreneurs and the human talent around them. Academic institutions become the strongest source of human talent, and the private sector is a strong source for business opportunities.
Incubators and accelerators specialize in supporting entrepreneurs with mentorship, and seed capital, other organizations provide them all types of products and services. But scientific research centers are one of the most important actors in a startup ecosystem, because they are the source of new knowledge with the potential to create new applications, technologies and innovations.
But a Startup requires funding, individuals and organizations that can provide capital to the entrepreneurial team, which enables them to execute their ideas and bring them to the real world.
Entrepreneurs start by contributing their knowledge, their time and their savings. Then, they turn what is known as the 3Fs: "family, friends & fools", those "idiots" who believe in them and their crazy ideas give them money. Entrepreneurs look for Grants or subsidies that can help them finance their research & development; they participate in competitions offering prizes and awards. In these early stages of the venture, entrepreneurs also need access to angel investors. Incubators
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and Acce le ra tors a l so fac i l i t a te access to seed capital funds and venture capital. These investments are already more sophisticated, because they provide the so cal led "smart money" which is not only money, but also the access to management and commercial ne tworks , t ha t can he lp the en t r ep reneur scale up their Star tup into a mult inat ional co rpo ra t ion . I n some cases , merge r s and acquisitions opportunities arise which provide an exit or a return to the investors. The pinnacle exit is an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the stock market.
But it is in our globalized market where we see entrepreneurs competing with their crazy ideas over traditional businesses, which usually underestimate them or even laugh at them and their endeavors.
It is important to identify entrepreneurs through contests and competitions, and allocate resources to support them. It is important to invite them to participate in all type of events and he lp t hem have a s many ne twork ing opportunities as possible. These entrepreneurs, with their failures and successes, will inspire others to venture too. For this reason, we must recognize them, celebrate them and promote them.
The ent repreneur should be seen as an ambassador, who can represent its ecosystem, and where their exploration and disruption, will benefit the entire market in general.
In my opinion, APEC has been doing an excellent job in this field, with a powerful portfolio of support programs to fund scientific research, technological development, academic scholarships and research grants in their respective economies. In America, we have successful programs like Startup Chile, Startup Mexico and Startup Peru, financing productive innovation and high impact entrepreneurship. The big challenge is how to scale-up these amazing support programs to the base of the pyramid and around various economies. There is a lack of venture capital for the growth of Startups into Scaleups, and I think this is a huge opportunity for economic development.
But Entrepreneurs have to take a defensive position against the bureaucracy of the state, which can overwhelm them with legal, tax, labor costs, and regulation burdens. These threats are felt
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event stronger at a startup level, because an entrepreneur and the venture have few resources, which should be allocated to value creation, and not in dealing with bureaucracy.
I think our children and youth are our future superheroes, with the ability to innovate from their homes, schools, colleges or universities; and we must support them and connect them to networks and mentors in all the APEC economies. I believe we can help incubate entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates from any corner of the world. Individual people are now able to create solutions that only whole companies were able to create (Mobile Applications), and companies are able to do things that only countries and governments used to do (space exploration).
I believe that the wealth of the world is not in its gold mines (natural resources), but in the gold minds of its entrepreneurs and innovators.
Competitiveness
Review of the serial events of APEC SMEs O2O initiative in the second half of 2016
I. Background In response to the APEC theme of "Quality Growth and Human Development" for the year
2016, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines co-proposed the "APEC SME O2O Initiative". This initiative includes four main areas of O2O innovation: "Mobile Commerce", "Sharing Economy", "Collaborative Industry" and "Next Generation Innovation". In partnership with top multinational corporations such as Intel, Siemens, Acer, Trend Micro and other major corporate partners, this initiative aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in young generation, and to enhance the digital competitiveness and resilience of SMEs to assist them going global.
Four serial events of this initiative were held in the APEC region in the first half of this year. In March, the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economic Affairs (henceforth MOEA), Mr. Jong Chin Shen together with Director General Yun Lung Yeh of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (henceforth SMEA), MOEA and 4 corporate partners initiated the "2016 APEC SME O2O Initiative" at the Social Enterprise Hub in Taipei. In April, first international forum was held in Viet Nam, allowing SMEs to showcase innovation. More than 100 participants joined and exchanged their views on digital economy and mobile commerce. In June, "APEC SME O2O Training Workshop" was held at the margin of COMPUTEX TAIPEI, in association with Taipei Computer Association. The start-ups recommended by APEC economies attended the Asia- Pacific Accelerator Network (AAN) Forum and business matching. In July, SMEA and Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor co-hosted APEC O2O Summit 2016. Over 30 SMEs/ startups from 14 APEC economies demoed their innovative ideas and gained potential business opportunities as well as international exposure.
II. Eastern and Western Pacific Co-work to Help APEC SMEs Expanding Cross-border Business
Chinese Taipei together with Peru, the host economy, conducted "APEC SME O2O Forum II" in the margin of APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting (SMEMM) in September. Mr. Jong Chin Shen, the Deputy Minister of MOEA led delegation to the APEC SMEMM held in Lima, the capital of Peru. Among the meeting, Deputy Minister Shen delivered a speech titled "Enhancing SME Digital Competitiveness and Resilience towards Quality Growth", to conclude the APEC SME O2O initiative of this year.
In the APEC SME O2O Forum II, Deputy Director General Ms. Mei-Hsueh Lin of SMEA, Chinese Taipei; Mr. John Andersen, SMEWG Chair and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Markets, International Trade Administration of US Department of Commerce; Mr. Gonzalo Villarán, Senior Advisor on Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Minister' s Cabinet, Ministry of Production, Peru; and Mr. Jerry Clavesillas, Director of Bureau of Micro, Small and Medium
APEC News
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Enterprise Development, Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines jointly delivered opening remarks. More than 100 participants including high level officials, representatives of e-commerce platforms and accelerators joined this forum. Besides, there were 14 SMEs from 11 APEC economies, including two outstanding SMEs-Installments and The News Lens from Chinese Taipei, invited to showcase their innovations in O2O and exchange experiences in making use of technology to expand business opportunities. In the end, the Philippines SME, Medifi won the champion and got the ticket to Taipei O2O Summit next year.
III. The Philippines takes turn to reinforce the digital competitiveness of SMEs Chinese Taipei together with the Philippines co-hosted "APEC Policy Dialogue on MSME
Marketplace & O2O Forum" on Nov. 28th and 29th at Boracay, the Philippines. This forum targeted at promoting MSMEs to seize the O2O business opportunity in the marketplace and in the age of digital economy. Following hot topics were included in the forum-Opportunities and Challenges of Modernizing APEC MSMEs to Go Global; E-Commerce Marketplace Players and Readiness for Cross-Border E-Commerce; and Unleash the Potential of O2O for A Better People-to-People Connectivity. In addition to the cooperation with APEC economies, this forum also aligned with the principle of public-private-partnership, providing SMEs more essential resource and boosting an innovation-driven economy in Asia Pacific region.
To better understand e-commerce development trend in APEC, one policy dialogue between public and private sectors was arranged within this forum. Mr. Francis Lopez, President of Intercommerce Network Services and Mr. Zaky Moh, Senior Director of Business Development and Entrepreneurship Division, together with enterprise representatives, including Mr. Jim Chang, Representative of Director, Taiwan Internet and E-Commerce Association were invited to exchange their opinions. 13 startups from 7 APEC economies were invited to showcase their innovations in O2O, and SnipePH from the Philippines won the champion.
IV. Conclusion This year, 6 APEC SME O2O serial events were held in 4 economies respectively with more
than 700 participants from 21 APEC economies. Besides, "Meet SME O2O Best Practices in the Asia Pacific" published, where 79 outstanding O2O startups from APEC were collected. In 2017 Chinese Taipei will work hand-in-hand with Malaysia and the Philippines to conduct the 2nd phase of O2O Initiative. To enhance SMEs' digital competitiveness and resilience toward quality growth, next year there will be some more cross-fora cooperation within APEC structure-ABAC, EPWG, HRDWG and PPWE; as well as with non-APEC stakeholders- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), Intel, Siemens, Google, Trend Micro, Belfor, Acer, PwC, McKinsey and O2O commerce platforms.
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"SMEs as engines of quality growth and prosperity"2016 APEC SME Ministerial Statement
1. We, the APEC Ministers and their representatives responsible for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), met in Lima on 9 September 2016 for the 23rd SME Ministerial Meeting under the Chairmanship of Minister Bruno Giuffra, Minister of Production of Peru. The meeting was also attended by the Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), SOM Chair Luis Quesada and the representative of the APEC Secretariat.
Modernization of SMEs 2. Under this year' s theme "Quality growth and Human development" and the priority "Towards
the modernization of SMEs in the Asia Pacific", we centered the discussions on "SMEs as engines of quality growth and prosperity", starting by reaffirming the importance of SMEs in economic activities and their role as sources of innovation and employment. SMEs are also best placed to materialize a structural reform and to advance sustainability in our economies, maximizing the impact of policies, strategies and best practices.
3. Guided by these elements, we stressed on the fact that the modernization of SMEs will imply concrete progress in increasing the innovation capacities of SMEs, fostering enabling environment and policies, guaranteeing access to financial means and capacity building, enhancing the participation of SMEs in electronic commerce in order to rapidly access new markets, reducing the technological gaps that many SMEs still face, and progressively inducing a shift into a more sustainable, eco-friendly and green production.
4. We also emphasized that the results of modernizing SMEs, as presented previously, would pave the way to integrate SMEs into Global Value Chains (GVCs) and to achieve their internationalization strategies. To do so, APEC economies will continue to support the internationalisation efforts of SMEs and encourage public-private partnership. We also acknowledged the importance of greater involvement of SMEs into business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-governent (B2G) markets.
5. We valued the active participation of SMEs from across the APEC region at the meetings held from 5 to 8 September 2016. We would also like to express our appreciation for the participation of representatives from the private sector, academia and international organizations. Their views and contribution helped in our understanding of existing opportunities and challenges SMEs need to addressed so that they can successfully integrate into the global economy.
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Contextualizing our deliberations in 2016 6. We expressed our satisfaction on the continuing prominence given by APEC' s agenda to
SMEs issues in recent years, which is all the more important in the context of evolving trends in international trade and investment. In this connection, we highlighted the important outcomes agreed and implemented recently in APEC, in particular those endorsed in 2014 and 2015 such as Nanjing Declaration on Promoting SME Innovative Development, APEC Accord on Innovative Development, Economic Reform and Growth, the Boracay Action Agenda, the Cebu Action Plan, the APEC Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth and the Iloilo Initiative which calls tor the establishment of the APEC MSME Marketplace.
7. This continuity must percolate as well in our efforts to synergize the work related to SMEs in different APEC' s committees and subfora. In doing so, we stressed the importance of mainstreaming SMEs issues in APEC' s agenda and strengthening cross-fora collaboration with a view to maximize the benefits of a concerted approach and to avoid duplication and/or overlap.
8. We highlighted the fact that our deliberations this year are taking place amidst broader discussions in APEC that will impact the future of regional economic integration, such as the finalization of the Collective Strategic Study on issues related to the Realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) and the development of the APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap. We also noted the high interest in this year' s assessment on the achievement of the Bogor Goals and welcomed the realization and outcomes of the SOM Dialogue on APEC Towards 2020 and Beyond and we looked forward to the conduct of similar dialogues in the following years as we approach 2020.
Key areas for 2016 and beyond 9. We stressed the need for APEC economies to share their experience on how to increase
innovation capabilities of SMEs, improve the policy environment for SME innovation and promote SMEs growth through innovation. We encouraged officials to continue with relevant initiatives and activities, where appropriate, including technical exchanges, intellectual property rights, development of industrial clusters, disaster resilience and financing support, for advancing sustainability through innovation.
10. We acknowledged that despite the great amount of efforts put in by economies to strengthen the digital competitiveness of SMEs in the region in order to access the opportunities offered by internet and digital economy, the lack of readiness, capability, and resilience to engage in E-commerce continues to be some of the most critical factors for SMEs to achieve commercial success and to internationalise effectively, as concluded in an ad- hoc study conducted by ABAC in 2015. We, therefore, committed our efforts to continue exploring ways to reduce this gap through continued partnership with global E-commerce players to support SMEs' E-commerce capacity building.
11. We recognized the need for further collaboration between APEC and ABAC in developing initiatives to foster SMEs growth. Given the complementary roles between the public and
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the private sectors, APEC SMEWG and ABAC should work together to further develop existing ABAC MSME related initiatives, particularly, the mapping of Incubators and Accelerators across APEC economies, Cross Border E-Commerce Training (CBET), best practices of sustainable partnerships between big and small businesses and the current efforts in enhancing women' s economic opportunities. Also, we reaffirmed the importance of creating a common e-commerce policy framework that will encourage greater e-commerce adoption by SMEs and promote CBET in more APEC economies.
12. We acknowledged that it is also important for each APEC economy to promote SMEs' active participation into the global value chains (GVCs) through measures to address challenges faced by SMEs in conducting overseas business development, e.g. improving infrastructure, legal systems and business practices, protecting intellectual property as well as promoting voluntary technology exchange.
13. We recognized greening MSMEs for sustainable development in APEC initiative launched by Thailand and Peru to highlight the great potential that MSMEs have in achieving sustainable development in terms of decarbonizing economic activities, acquiring more sustainable production, greening GVCs, greening MSMEs, protecting the environment and boosting the livelihoods of local communities involved in sustainable economic activities. Meanwhile, it is also important to highlight the business opportunities arising from greening MSMEs particularly competitiveness enhancement through the use of accesible technologies and improvement in market access, among others.
14. Taking into account the amount of work that has been done in the past by APEC in areas of sustainability, green growth, environmental goods and services and green value chains, we instructed the SMEWG to lead a process to develop an "APEC Strategy for Green and Sustainable MSMEs" with a view that it be adopted in November 2017, in close coordination with all APEC relevant Committees and subfora. The aforementioned Strategy will outline prioritized actions to create greener and more sustainable MSMEs including rasing green awareness among stakeholders, providing training and skills development, especially on the development of accesible green technologies, creating the enabling environment such as integrated policy framework, allyand economic incentives that allow MSMEs to engage in green activities, as well as promoting green supply chain development. and the use of natural resources in an environmentally-friendly manner.
Main outcomes, deliverables and work in 2016 15. We appreciated the progress made by APEC in implementing the Boracay Action Agenda
to Globalize MSMEs. We further encouraged economies to continue the development of initiatives that will benefit MSMEs in the region andcontribute to their capacity to internationalize.
16. We congratulated the United States on the successful outcomes of the APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Initiative in strengthening ethical business practices in key sectors. Heightened and aligned ethical standards through collective action free SMEs from the high costs of
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corruption and support their ability to access global markets. We congratulated Peru on the conclusion of its Consensus Framework for Multi-Stakeholder Ethical Collaboration in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors, bringing together relevant stakeholders in the healthcare system under a common platform. We urged APEC economies to implement similar Frameworks as endorsed under the APEC Nanjing Declaration and continue the full adoption of APEC Principles for codes of ethics as instructed by APEC Ministers and Leaders, and welcomed enhanced work with third party intermediaries. We affirmed the continuing work of the engineering and construction sector to undertake initiatives for SMEs to combat corruption. We supported improved capacity-building at ministries relevant to infrastructure, the examination of specific ways to streamline government processes – including increased use of automation – to improve transparency, the development of an APEC common baseline for ethics self-certification programs, and the establishment of a public-private implementation team to advise Ministers on additional steps to improve the efficient and transparent delivery of vital infrastructure. We extended our appreciation to Peru for hosting the 3rd APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum in 2016 and look forward to the 4th APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum in Viet Nam.
17. We welcomed the realization of the 9th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Technology Conference and Fair (SMETC) convened by China, in July 2016. Being successfully held for 9 sessions, in accordance with Nanjing Declaration on Promoting Innovative Development and the 22nd SMEMM Statement of Ministers, SMETC serves as a very good professional platform on technology exchange and trade promotion for SMEs in Asia-Pacific region, along with the aim of promoting MSMEs integration into Global Value Chains.
18. We acknowledged the important contribution of APEC Best Practices in SME Innovation, which is announced during APEC SME Technology Conference and Fair (SMETC), on providing a professional platform for SMEs within Asia-Pacific region to share and exchange innovative ideas of cutting-edge fields.
19. We acknowledged the importance of APEC SME Online-to-Offline (O2O) Initiative co-proposed by Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and Malaysia to enhance SME digital competitiveness and resilience towards quality growth. We appreciated the realization of APEC SME O2O Summit held in Chinese Taipei as well as the serial O2O Fora in Lima of Peru, Ho Chi Minh City of Viet Nam and the forthcoming one in Boracay of the Philippines this year. We noted their main outcomes which would help governments and stakeholders to be more aware of the opportunities and challenges of modernizing SMEs.
20. We welcomed the real izat ion of the Workshop on E-commerce for Inclusion and Competitiveness organized by Peru, held in Lima in August 2016 and acknowledged the potential of new technologies and digital channels to reach new customers and to enhance financial and social inclusion.
21. We noted the outcomes of the workshop on Best Practices for Enabling MSME Access to the Digital Economy held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in April 2016. We recognized the importance of the opportunities that the digital economy offers to MSMEs to enhance
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integration into global supply chains and value chains, fostering more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
22. We welcomed the results of the project titled"APEC SME Internationalization Model Indices: Development and Application" which was conducted by the Republic of Korea. We acknowledged that the results of the project would contribute to Internationalization of SMEs in the APEC region.
23. We praised Australia's support for trade promotion agencies to improve their services to encourage more women-led SMEs to enter export markets. The "APEC Capacity Building Program Supporting Women-led SMEs Access Global Markets by Implementing Gender- Responsive Trade Promotion Policies and Programs", in cooperationwith Peru (held a workshop in August and reiterated the importance of women' s perspectives and their particular interests and needs in our world. We recognized that mainstreaming gender equality and women' s economic empowerment into our work will contribute towards increasing women SMEs' access to the international market.
24. We welcomed the outcomes of the survey "Inclusive growth through greater involvement of SMEs into B2B and B2G markets" and agreed to use them in further work on the APEC MSME Marketplace. We urged fostering participation of SMEs in international supply chains in B2B markets and in national B2G markets through systemizing opportunities and sharing best practices of cooperation among large companies and public sector and MSMEs.
25. We welcomed the SMEWG' s endorsement of the Implementation Plan of the APEC MSME Marketplace and looked forward to its launch in 2017.
26. We expressed our appreciation to Canada for its generous contribution that led to the operation this year of a new ASF Sub-fund on MSMEs and calledfor economies to harness the opportunity for the benefits of SMEs in the region.
27. We appreciated the substantial contribution on issues relevant to SMEs made by the meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT), the APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy and the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy Forum. We also looked forward to the forthcoming realization of the APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting, the APEC Education Ministerial Meeting and the Finance Ministerial Meeting, which would address SMEs-related issues.
APEC SMEWG Strategic Plan 2017-2020 28. We commended the work of economies and their representatives in finalizing the APEC
SMEWG Strategic Plan 2017-2020. We would also like to express our appreciaton to the independent assessor, PSU, ABAC and other stakeholders for their continuing contributions and inputs to the work of the SMEWG and to SME issues in APEC. We looked forward to the active participation of economies in executing the Implementation Schedule of the Strategic Plan 2017-2020.
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This Monitor is a publication of APEC SME Crisis Management Center and is edited by Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
Copyright © 2016 by APEC SME Crisis Management Center
Chairmanship of the SMEWG 29. We expressed our appreciation to Mr. John Andersen, Chairman of the SMEWG and highly
commended his work and commitment in leading the group for the last two years.
APEC 2017 SME Meetings 30. We looked forward to our next meeting in Viet Nam for the APEC SME Ministerial Meeting
and Related Activities in 2017.
Towards the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima 31. We agreed to present this APEC SME Ministerial Statement as the contribution to the APEC
Ecomomic Leader' s Meeting in November 2016 in Lima, Peru.
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