Apec's Work Helps Small Enterprises To Do Business

The APEC SME meeting in Christchurch in April marks a new approach in getting Government and business representatives working together, Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford says.

"APEC is all about encouraging business in the APEC region by making it easier and simpler," Mr Bradford said in Christchurch this morning. "So we are taking 'kiwi-style' approach to the SME (small to medium sized enterprises) meeting.

"For first time the format will include an open session between Ministers and business people to discuss how best to ensure the future growth of SMEs in APEC.

"This is the only occasion during New Zealand's APEC year when business people and politicians will meet and discuss issues together in open session, other than the more formal dialogue that will take place at the Leaders Meeting with the APEC Business Advisory Council."

Mr Bradford said the Christchurch meeting will be a great opportunity for businesses to seek answers and air their concerns directly to Ministers.

"It is important for politicians to hear first-hand from business about their issues and concerns in order to get a practical understanding of the barriers to expanding trade in the region," he said.

"The Christchurch meeting is also a particularly timely opportunity for Ministers and business people from the 21 APEC economies to get together to contribute fully to the Asian economic recovery, and to ensure growth is sustained long into the future.

"Ministers responsible for SMEs recognise that they cannot do this alone, but need business people to be closely involved."

Mr Bradford said the approach to running the SME meeting has been mirrored in the organisational work, in which Canterbury business and local body organisations have been closely involved.

"The local involvement has been invaluable, and I am sure will result in a highly focused and productive meeting in four weeks' time.

"I expect the SME meeting will foster better links between New Zealand businesses and those in other APEC economies, and will increase our own skills' development and capacity for building successful SMEs.

"While not wanting to pre-empt the April meeting, I also look forward to a range of new initiatives emerging."

SME Ministers and business representatives will discuss issues arising from the following five main themes:

education, and the role of the education sector in enhancing SME management capability; trade, and the reduction of barriers to SME trade such as compliance costs and other "red-tape" burdens; capital markets, and how they can be strengthened to ensure SMEs have ready access to capital to fund growth; the financial crisis, its effect on SMEs, and useful responses to problems that have arisen; enhancing business linkages between APEC SMEs, and the role of technology/e-commerce in this. "Within these five areas it is important that we obtain productive and tangible benefits from the meetings," Mr Bradford said.

"Many of these benefits will come from feeding the outcomes of the SME meetings into other international forums and into New Zealand's overall contribution to APEC."