Strengthening SME’s Participation，Contributing Powerful Development in APEC Economies

Jiang+Shan

Abstract：Small and medium enterprises（SMEs）has been mentioned several times as a main issue during recent three years APEC Summits.It is regarded as the key part of promoting the common development among developing countries.However，facing economic globalization，SMEs are usually at an unfavorable position because of their own limitation.Thats the point which all APEC members work towards.This article aims to give constructive suggestions from different aspects to help economies in APEC areas strengthen SMEs participation and enhance their competence in fending off the risk in global market.

Keywords：small and medium enterprises； APEC members； economic integration； comprehensive competitiveness

摘要：在近三年的APEC峰会中，中小型企业的发展一直都作为主要议题引发各经济体成员的热切关注。中小型企业被认为是促进发展中国家共同发展的主力军，却又经常在经济全球化中由于自身的局限性处于不利地位。这也正是所有APEC成员近年来都在试图努力改善的重点方向。本文旨在从不同角度深入分析并提出建设性建议，帮助各APEC成员经济体提高中小型企业自身的实力，增强在全球市场中抵御风险的能力，促进地区发展繁荣。

关键词：中小型企业；APEC成员经济体；经济一体化；综合竞争力

中图分类号：F276.3文献标识码：A文章编号：1671-864X（2016）08-0156-04

While the uneven global economic recovery continues，the Asia-Pacific economy has maintained its momentum.And yet，the Asia-Pacific region still faces new challenges.It is commonly recognized that small and medium enterprises（SMEs）are not only one of the forces behind innovative activities in the Asia-Pacific region，but also a key driver of economic growth.In a complex，fast-changing，and competitive market environment，innovative development is critical to stimulating the endogenous viability of SMEs and their sustainable development.

Nowadays，we can see that there are still many problems that SMEs in Asia-Pacific have to face on their way to development.The number of them is quite large thus its hard for the local government to take measures giving unified standard management.They embrace a huge amount of employment in most less-developed regions while own quite backward technology and have few accesses to get an advanced new one； in this way most of them are labor-intensive industries.With a short product value chain，generally they all get a poor ability to resist the high risk once the consuming demand has a great volatility during the financial crisis.At the same time，SMEs not having much concern from the public policies，its also quite difficult for them to raise capital because of their tiny scale and weak strength in finance.Whats more，from an external aspect，theres a poor collaboration amongst government，academia，and private sector stakeholders and an incomplete security system of intellectual property protection（IPR）so that many business secrets are revealed easily，which aggravates the inequality of SMEs participation competition.

So what can APEC do to give so many SMEs its assistance？For the general target of strengthening economic collaborations of different economies，the role APEC can play is a guide and a supporter.Then we will argue from three main aspects to recommend our advice on developing new drives and new ways for SMEs participation in regional and global market basically from the main themes of current APEC meetings as follows.

Advancing Regional Economic Integration

1.All the APEC members should meet their commitments against all forms of protectionism.Customs co-operation is quite essential during the trade among different economies for the chain reactions it brings to the price and the cost.Reducing trade and investment barriers will improve economies access to global production networks and allow SMEs to source less expensive inputs globally，which in turn would lower costs，increase efficiency and enhance competitiveness.For instantiation，we could reaffirm our commitment to reduce applied tariffs to five percent or less by the end of 2015 on the list of environmental goods that we endorsed in 2012 in Vladivostok.We can call upon all economies to redouble their efforts in order to bring the economic and environmental benefits to SMEs practically.

2.We could put the commitment of APEC economies to move forward with the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement into practice.Since there are many SMEs in those less-developing regions，we should push the progress forward this year in improving the performance of APEC and other well-developed economies give their targeted，focused capacity building and technical assistance.So in this way，its quite a great idea to welcome the establishment of the APEC Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity.The encouragement of increasing the resources of the APEC Supply Chain Connectivity Sub-Fund will definitely ensure our capacity building and technical assistance given to SMEs and further the trade facilitation objectives.Whats more，we should support the integration of SMEs into the global supply and value chains of large enterprises，encourage service outsourcing，product development，and technical cooperation，extension of value chain，and enhance the collaboration among SMEs and large enterprises.Then we need to continue to address barriers that SMEs face in market access in the region and provide a conducive environment to accelerate start-ups and improve the competitiveness of SMEs.From the view of written documents，we should realize the role of internationally recognized private international law instruments such as the Hague Conventions in facilitating cross-border trade and investment，enhancing ease of doing business，and fostering effective enforcement of contracts and efficient settlement of business disputes，and try to teach SMEs to take good use of these laws to protect their interests during the external trade.

3.The government of APEC economies should make a set of tendentious policies to give priority and constructive guidance to SMEs.We should encourage the development of industrial clusters to promote the transfer and expansion of knowledge and technology，which is conducive to the strengthening of cooperation and resource sharing，and reduce the cost of innovation，production and transaction for SMEs.In addition，we will also encourage the establishment of a mechanism for exchanges among industrial clusters，strengthen cooperation among industrial clusters and promote the cross-border flow and sharing of talent，technology，capital，service，information and other elements of innovation in the Asia-Pacific region.For instance，since 2010，Anhui Province of China，strengthen the industry chain，innovation chain，resource chain into integration，create industrial agglomeration development base of SMEs，enhance the radiation and leading role driven by innovation，and has achieved remarkable results.By the end of 2014，there are 48 high-tech industrial bases in the province，among which 18 are national industrial bases and 30 are provincial industrial bases.In 2014，the total operating revenue of SMEs in the 48 bases is 806.106 billion yuan； the industrial added value is 278.537 billion yuan； they earn 5.688 billion dollars as foreign exchange through exports，4.624 billion yuan as net profit，38.1 billion yuan dedicating to tax，effectively supporting the transformation and upgrading of the local economy.Recently，the Anhui provincial government introduced “the opinions on speeding up the construction of strategic cluster development bases of emerging industries”，and put forward six aspects of policies and measures to realize industrialization，and the establishment of a number of SME alliances with sustainable innovation abilities，to cultivate a group of leading enterprises with international influence，and to create a group of Anhuis well-known manufacturing brands，to support Anhuis new economic growth.

Promoting innovative development，economic reform and growth

1.According to the APEC Cross Border E-Commerce Innovation and Development Initiative，we should encourage economies to designate or establish Research Centers of Cross-border E-commerce Innovation and Development on a voluntary basis，in order to create new business chances for SMEs，help them find other commercial information of clients demands，and bring them more potential consumers.Its a necessary step to establish the Asia-Pacific Model E-port Network（APMEN）and welcome the first batch of APEC Model E-ports nominated by the APEC economies.China has agreed to set up the APMEN operational center in Shanghai Model E-port，and endorsed the establishment of the first pilot center of APEC Cooperation Network on Green Supply Chain in Tianjin，which can encourage other economies to establish the pilot centers，instruct officials to make further efforts to contribute to regional trade facilitation and supply chain connectivity，and advance related work actively.

2.We should encourage members to improve the financing environment for SME innovation and support the establishment of an APEC SMEs database on innovative best practices.We encourage reduction of the uncertainty and risks associated with providing financing for SMEs：encourage capital markets to drive investments into innovative SMEs at the start-up stage； encourage banks to develop loans models，products and services to support technology innovation of SMEs； foster and develop the Growth Enterprises Market； promote the development of private equity and venture capital funds.Innovative solutions that are attuned to SMEs requirements will encourage more relevant financing models.Members should strengthen the cooperation among financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region and welcome China Development Bank to explore the possibility of establishing a cooperative mechanism and a designated loan together with other APEC economy financial institutions，in order to provide financing support for SME innovation.In conjunction with business and accounting bodies，SMEs should be encouraged to recognize，measure and report their intangible assets（e.g.ICT skills，software and networks，and intellectual property rights），so that SME assets can be more effectively managed and reliably valued by capital markets and investors，thereby supporting SMEs in further pursuing and realizing innovative ideas.Besides，we also need to encourage various technology service platforms，incubators，science parks and other mechanisms such as the APEC SME Service Alliance（ASSA），the APEC SME Innovation Center，and the APEC Accelerator Network（AAN）to facilitate SMEs access to technical expertise，information，financial and legal services for their technological innovation and to further enhance the innovative capability and culture of SMEs.For example，recently what has attracted widespread concern in the market is the formal establishment of China Bond Insurance Corporation（CBIC）in Beijing，the first professional bond credit promotion agency to solve the problem of raising capital of SMEs for the development of direct financing market.And what else can members do is to support SMEs and other stakeholders in further strengthening the employment and training of professionals：continue to implement training and certification programs，including business administration，start-up mentoring，technology innovation，technical assistance，improving the competitiveness of start-ups，etc.

3.We also could improve support for SMEs to use the intellectual property rights（IPRs）system and enforcement mechanisms and promote the SMEs capabilities in the creation，utilization，protection and management of IPRs.Intellectual property right is the important source of enterprises core competitiveness.It is the effective method that enterprises use to develop，expand，and carry on the technological innovation.According to “The National Intellectual Property Strategy” published by the Chinese government in 2008，it emphasizes to build the dynamic mechanism of the enterprise.SMEs should strengthen the intellectual property consciousness，establish the mechanism to actively train and introduce intellectual property talents，and incorporate the intellectual property rights into the strategic management routine of the enterprise.SMEs should pay much attention on patents and trademarks，and firmly grasp the initiative of participation in the market both at home and abroad.Secondly，we need to construct the government impetus mechanism，and accelerate the establishment of the enterprises integrated administration agency of intellectual property in country level.APEC members need to perfect the legal system of intellectual property rights and strengthen the public service to focus on solving the shortage of funds，mismanagement，backward technology，information occlusion and the shortage of talent during SMEs construction on IPRs.

Strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development

1.Cooperate on improving statistics related to GVCs.In light the principles of “from easy to hard” and “moving from technical proficiencies to policy”，we will take a step-by-step approach in compiling domestic account and foreign trade statistics，and developing categories harmonized to realize effective correlation of data among SMEs of APEC economies that can contribute to the WTO-OECD Trade in Value-Added（TiVA）database.Without duplicating existing work at the WTO and OECD，the CTI will undertake further efforts in 2015 and future years on policy research，information exchange，developing shared approaches on statistics collection，and offering focused capacity building programs.In the value chain，when calculating the deficit or surplus of trade，it is not calculated according to the previous total trade anymore，but is according to the added trade value.The increasing trade value can reflect the depth and breadth of an economy in the global value chain.In order to support and facilitate the work on this area，APEC should explore the establishment of an experts group on value added trade to help SMEs in its member economies undertake trade policy capacity research，exchange information，develop approaches on statistics collection，and conduct focused capacity building efforts.

2.We need to strengthen collaboration amongst government，academia，and SMEs to build science capacity，to promote an enabling environment for innovation and including by establishing training centers for the commercialization of research，and to enhance regional science and technology connectivity，with respect for intellectual property rights and trade secrets.According to the outcomes of the 6th Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting and the Action Plan（2015-2018）on Promoting Quality Employment and Strengthening People-to-People Connectivity through Human Resources Development，we should encourage APEC economies to give priority to stabilizing and expanding employment in SMEs，implementing macroeconomic policies in favor of job creation，and strengthening capacity building for human resources development，vocational skills development and skill training for youth，which contributes to a convenient environment of intellectual communication.For instance，Perfect World，a successful intelligent mobile game，earned 48.9 million yuan for overseas authorization only in the second quarter of 2014，accounting for nearly 40% of the export revenues of Chinese games.It has won the first place in Chinese games export performance for seven consecutive years and exports to more than 100 countries and regions.Xiao Hong，the representative of Perfect World，says the first step of “Go out” is to expand markets in Asia-Pacific regions.“The range of interconnection is quite large，involving a number of areas，within the domain of interoperability is conducive to eliminate cultural conflict and other soft barriers caused by the cooperation of both sides of suspicion and enmity，and also help tp open up the channels of communication.” Xiao illustrates，“Like the current Silicon Valley，if the development is only in a specific area，it will definitely encounter bottlenecks.Only when the market is open enough，and the interconnection is developed enough to promote the flow of talents，it can provide support for the development of the industry.”

3.We will develop，maintain and renew quality infrastructure，including energy，ICT and transport infrastructure and seek to increase the quality and sustainability of APEC transport networks； increase broadband internet access； promote sustainable energy security； and build resiliency into the energy infrastructure.Information dissemination and transportation are two significant segments during the process of connectivity among SMEs.Increased information sharing and improved communication technology allow for faster and reliable connections between SMEs and organizations throughout the Asia-Pacific，facilitating trade and economic growth.As for transportation，the “Maritime Silk Road” put forward by China，which connects different economies in Asia-Pacific region with a voyage route has recently become a hot topic for its strong drive on trade.However，due to some unstable safety factors，only a few large enterprises can take a good use of it.So its a wise choice to help facilitate the efficient and effective operation of maritime transportation and shipments，especially considering that a majority of maritime infrastructure development projects happen on a unilateral basis so that it can create more chances for SMEs to participate in the global trade and improve their competitiveness.We have taken note of several pathfinder initiatives where future cooperation could produce tangible results and hope the communication will become more unobstructed.

Conclusion

The Asia-Pacific region has experienced a quarter of a centurys growth and development.APEC has not only made significant contributions to the regions economic development，social progress and improvement of peoples livelihoods，but has also epitomized the great changes and rising strategic position of the Asia-Pacific.Whats more，SMEs are the engines of growth and innovation in the APEC region，which account for over 97 percent of all enterprises and employ over half of the workforce across APEC economies.SMEs contribute significantly to economic growth，with SMEs share of GDP ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent in the majority of APEC economies.Though there are quite a lot of challenges and problems that SMEs need to face，with APECs assistance，support，and guidance，we hope to encourage the development of SMEs to build their capacity to engage in international trade and strengthen their competitiveness in global market.

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作者简介：江山（1995-），男，汉族，武汉大学外国语学院本科生。研究方向：翻译学。