Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the 29th APEC SME Working Group Meeting, 5 Oct 09

OPENING Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade & Industry and MANPOWER, AT THE 29TH APEC SME WORKING GROUP MEETING ON 5 OCTOBER 2009 (MONDAY), 9 am at SHANGRI-LA HOTEL

Fellow APEC Colleagues,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Let me first extend a very warm welcome to the 29th SME Working Group Meeting. We are very pleased that you are here

Singapore as APEC 2009 host

It is indeed an honor that Singapore is given a chance to play host for APEC 2009. The SME Working Group and Ministerial Meetings and Related Seminars which form part of our year-long calendar of APEC events will culminate with the APEC Leaders’ Week in November.

We are also delighted to have the opportunity to reciprocate the warm hospitality extended to us by Peru and Chinese Taipei who graciously hosted the SME Working Group meetings last year and earlier this year. Let us all put our hands together for a round of applause to show our appreciation to our colleagues from Peru and Chinese Taipei.

At this point, our hearts also go out to the victims of earthquakes and typhoons in some neighboring countries. As they grieve the loss of loved ones and struggle to restore their lives to normalcy, we want to tell them that they are not alone in this human endeavor. In fact, the work of the SME Working Group is now even more urgent as it seeks to empower SMEs to grow and add resilience to the economies affected.

APEC SME 2009 Theme

Our APEC SME theme in 2009 is "Helping SMEs Access Global Markets and Overcome Trade Barriers”. This theme is very relevant and timely in the global economic crisis. With the world economy showing signs of initial recovery, our task of helping our SMEs to access markets and tap business opportunities become especially meaningful.

Many analysts believe Asia will help lead the way towards an eventual global economic recovery. While SMEs contributed to about half of the GDP of APEC economies, they accounted for only some 30% of total exports. A study shows that if we make it easier for SMEs to export across borders, we could help APEC SMEs double their trade flow to US$2 trillion, creating many more jobs in the process.

SME Strategic Plan

The four-year Strategic Plan mapped out by the SME Working Group would guide your work from now until 2012. The plan focuses on six Priority Areas. They are:

1) Business Environment;

2) Building Management Capability and Promoting Entrepreneurship;

3) Market Access and Internationalization;

4) Innovation;

5) Financing; and

6) Sustainable Business Practices.

Members from the SME Working Group have also decided that the projects to be undertaken and endorsed by the Group should be aligned to help advance one or more of the six Priority Areas.

I understand that at your last meeting in Taipei in June, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were developed for five of the six Priority Areas. Even though no economies came forward to develop KPIs for Sustainable Business Practices, it was nevertheless a commendable start and I commend all of you for your efforts. The KPIs developed will be useful in monitoring the progress of projects to be undertaken. I hope you will continue to work towards developing KPIs for the last Priority Area.

Focus of Discussions

Your discussions over the next two days will focus on finding ways for our economies to work more closely together in three key areas:

1) Helping our SMEs position for growth after the crisis;

2) Developing market research and market access capabilities; and

3) Supporting the implementation of the APEC SME Strategic Plan.

On helping our SMEs position for growth after the crisis, we will have to take stock of the economic situation and the measures taken by our economies to address the crisis. We will need to balance such measures with a common understanding and commitment to increase free trade and keep our markets open, especially for our SMEs.

Related to this is also the need to develop our SMEs’ market research and market access capabilities. The recent economic crisis has underlined the importance of developing new markets and seeking new business opportunities. My colleagues from Singapore will be sharing a proposal for APEC to set up an SME Market Research and Capability Development Centre to address this need.

On the implementation of the Strategic Plan, I hope some economies would soon share their experiences in using the various KPIs developed with the rest of us. In this way, we hope more APEC economies can be encouraged to overcome inertia to achieve our objectives of building the capacity of our SMEs.

As officials, we should also listen carefully to our SMEs’ needs and simplify the environment in which they operate. We should be creative and innovative in our approach, in formulating policies and fostering a conducive environment for our SMEs. Your recommendations and consolidated observation will form the basis of inputs to the Ministerial Meeting later this week and for onward submission to the Leaders’ Meeting in November.

You have a very busy week ahead. But even as you get down to business, I hope you will find some time to enjoy our city. My best wishes to all of you for a fruitful day and a memorable stay in Singapore!

Thank you.