PEC ministers agree to help small businesses expand overseas+

A
GIFU, Japan, Oct. 2 Kyodo -
Ministers and senior officials in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises
from Pacific Rim economies agreed Saturday to implement measures to help them
expand their businesses overseas, Japanese industry minister Akihiro Ohata
said.
Representatives from member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum agreed on the ''Gifu Initiative,'' featuring three pillars -- assisting
smaller firms with selling local products overseas, facilitating their
participation in international industrial exhibitions and promoting exchange
between smaller firms' managers within the region.
''We have agreed to create an environment where small and medium-sized
companies can stand on their own and enhance their businesses through new
networks with managers of other such companies,'' said Economy, Trade and
Industry Minister Ohata, who chairs the meeting.
The two-day meeting will be concluded Sunday in the Japanese central city of
Gifu after adopting a joint ministerial statement on enhancing development of
small and medium-sized companies to promote growth of the region.
Representatives from 20 of the 21-member APEC forum are attending the
gathering, which comes ahead of the November APEC summit in Yokohama, Kanagawa
Prefecture.
The meeting will serve as an input to compiling APEC's growth strategy, which
is expected to include five aspects of growth that APEC plans to achieve,
namely ''balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure'' growth.
The outcome of the ministerial meeting is expected to be reflected in the
region's planned goal of inclusive growth that would allow all citizens to have
the opportunity to thrive in the global market economy.
In Saturday's meeting, the APEC economies discussed effects of the global
financial crisis on small and medium-sized companies in respective countries
and measures they have implemented to counter it, as well as their assessments.
They also talked about steps that the APEC economies should take as a whole in
the next two to three years as many countries have begun to seek an exit from
the emergency measures.
The chair of the meeting's working group reported on the progress of a
four-year strategic plan on small and medium enterprises through 2012, which
places emphasis on six fields such as improving business environments and
promoting innovation.
Along with the meeting, an international exhibition of goods produced by
companies in more than 10 APEC economies is being held in the city of Gifu.
==Kyodo
2010-10-03 01:09:35