APEC leaders to form SME registry

Aug 06 2012

RBTH

At St. Petersburg ministerial-level meeting of APEC member states has yielded an initiative to form a single database of small- and medium-sized-enterprises (SME) among members.

At gathering in St. Petersburg last week, APEC ministers agreed to exchange best practices in establishing technoparks, lower trade and investment barriers, develop transportation infrastructure and help small business.

“The initiative that attracted the greatest interest from our colleagues was the creation of a single [SME] database,” said Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Vladimir Simonenko. In some APEC states, SMEs employ up to 60% of the working population. In Russia this figure currently stands at 25%.

First published in Russian in Rossiyskaya Gazeta

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