01st – 05th September 2014
Nanjing, People's Republic of China
Friday, 05th September 2014
By The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - The 21st APEC Small and Medium Enterprise Ministerial Meeting was held on the 05th September 2014 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China and was chaired by Mr. Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, the People's Republic of China.
The Meeting was attended by Ministers and representatives from 21 APEC Member Economies with the theme "Innovation and Sustainability".
Brunei Darussalam to the Meeting was represented by Her Excellency Datin Paduka Magdalene Teo Chee Siong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Brunei Darussalam in Beijing, People's Republic of China and senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.
The APEC SMEMM is held annually by the APEC host economy to advance APEC's support for micro, small, and medium enterprises that comprises the majority of businesses in all 21 APEC member economies.
In the APEC region, SMEs account for around 90 percent of all businesses and employ as much as 60 percent of the work force. However, they generate only around 30 percent of global exports.
The objective of the SMEMM and related meetings offer a unique opportunity to work with other Asia-Pacific partners and to encourage the rapid development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly in Innovation.
The APEC SME Ministerial Statement is in congruent with the three sub-themes of "Increasing Innovation Capacities of SMEs", "Improving the Policy Environment for SMEs' Innovation" and "Promoting SMEs' growth through Innovation"was endorsed during the Meeting; and will be presented as a contribution to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2014 in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Additionally, the Nanjing Declaration on Promoting SME Innovative Development was also adopted which encouraged the APEC Member Economies to take a range of measures to promote SME innovation on a voluntary basis.
Before wrapping up the Meeting, the APEC SME Ministers took note that the next APEC SME Ministerial and related meetings will be held in 2015 in the Philippines and previewing the focus areas for these upcoming meetings.
Alongside of the Meetings, the week-long event kicked off with other events, particularly on the "APEC Seminar of Financing Innovation of SMEs" and the "APEC SME Business Forum 2014" organized by the Chinese Government. A 3-day series of APEC Code of Business Ethics for SMEs' forums & workshops which focuses on the Medical Device Sector and Biopharmaceutical Sector, organized by the United States were also held concurrently.
Thursday, 11 September 2014 09:17
