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The 23rd Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises Working Group Meeting (SMEWG) opened
in Hanoi on September 26 with the participation of delegates
from the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) member
economies, APEC Secretariat, observers and international
organisations.
Addressing the opening ceremony,
the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam,
Truong Van Doan, said the meeting is an important step towards
the success of the APEC Vietnam 2006 SMEs Ministerial Meeting.
Deputy Minister Doan said "2006 is
full of APEC events of high importance to Vietnam, a country
on its way to international economic integration, coupled with
opportunities and challenges ahead for its entire economy,
including the nascent SME community."
According to him, Vietnam has been
utilising both physical and human resources to shorten the
development gap with other economies in the region, in
parallel to hunger eradication, poverty alleviation and social
equality.
"Therein, the contribution from
all economic sectors, including the private one, particularly
from the SME sector, is strongly encouraged," he said.
He said the SME community in
Vietnam is at early stage in all aspects, namely financial
capability, technological know-how, management skill and
global economic integration. Hence, international economic
fora such as the APEC SME Ministerial Meeting and related
meetings will be opportunities for Vietnam to better
understand and acquire invaluable experiences in SME
development from other economies.
During the two-day meeting, the
participants will discuss SMEs-related issues such as creating
favourable business environment, improving capacity in trade
and investment, and intensifying co-operation for SMEs, with
focus put on the draft Hanoi Declaration on strengthening
competitive capacity in trade and investment for SMEs.
They will also discuss the
implementation of the Daegu Initiative on SME reform, the
improvement of operation of SME Working Group and its
co-operation with other organisations within APEC. (VNA) |
