Building upon the policy workshop, participants reaffirmed the vision that by 2025, SMEs in ASEAN shall be globally competitive, resilient, and innovative, which can enhance seamless integration into sustainable growth and equitable development in the region.
To achieve the 10-year vision, five areas of strategic goals were formulated: namely, enabling regulatory and institutional frameworks; enhancing access to finance, enhancing market access and internationalisation, strengthening entrepreneurial education and human resource development, promoting productivity, technology and innovation.
The ASMEWG plans to convene a public policy dialogue in November, alongside the upcoming SMEWG meeting in Cambodia, to obtain practical inputs and recommendations from the private sector – as the key stakeholders of the ASEAN Economic Community – as well as relevant government and regulatory agencies in ASEAN member states.
A series of events and activities in drafting the strategic action plan beyond 2015 has been conducted with support from Japan’s Economy and Industry Commission, the economic research institute for ASEAN and East Asia, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the United States Agency for International Development.
