Asean set to spur investments for region’s small businesses

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has approved a development project that will encourage investments in small and medium enterprises throughout the region.

The Asean-backed project, which was launched last week, involves the development of 19 case studies in three priority SME sectors: agro-processing, electronics and information and communications technology.

The proponents of the project noted that while SMEs undoubtedly make up a large part of the world’s economy, far fewer studies about them are available.

“SMEs account for 70 to 80 percent of the GDP of countries in Asean,” said Philip Juico, who leads the project management team.

In particular, the case studies aim to identify weaknesses to help and create interventions for SMEs, promote innovations that improve the effectiveness of SMEs, support economic integration within the region, align regional development initiatives and promote entrepreneurship.

Juico said that SMEs involved in agro-processing in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Myanmar and Japan will be studied.

For the ICT sector, SMEs in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan will be examined.

Meanwhile, SMEs that will be surveyed in the electronics sector will come from Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.

The drafts of the case studies are expected to be finished by December and the final output by March next year, Juico said.

The project, financed by the Japan-Asean Integration Fund, tapped 13 research writers from the Asean region.

Some of the SMEs eyed for the case studies include a producer of seafood crackers in Brunei, a producer of cured seafood in Indonesia, a silk weaver in Cambodia and an electronic goods trader in Vietnam.