APEC SME Ministers Unite for SMEs and Microbusinesses in the Asia-Pacific Region

Jo Joo-hyun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is speaking at the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SME Ministerial Meeting held in Thailand on the 9th and 10th (local time).

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SME Ministers' Meeting was held over two days on the 9th and 10th (local time) in Phuket, Thailand.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 10th, the theme of this ministers' meeting was 'Inclusive Recovery of APEC Regional SMEs through the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) Model.' On the first day, topics such as accelerating BCG and inclusive digital innovation were discussed, while the second day covered normalization of SME and small business financing and responses to changing market environments.

Cho Joo-hyun, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, who attended as Korea's representative, explained Korea's SME support policies related to accelerating BCG and inclusive digital innovation. Regarding BCG acceleration, Deputy Minister Cho mentioned the necessity and efforts to support carbon emission reduction for SMEs in high-carbon industries and the establishment of the K-Bio Lab Hub, which comprehensively supports innovative startup companies in the bio sector.

Regarding inclusive digital innovation, he actively shared Korea's representative 'SME and Small Business Digital Transformation Policies' with the participants, including the smart factory dissemination project and customized online capacity-building coaching for small business owners.

He also mentioned that the government's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan will serve as a platform to realize inclusive digital innovation, requesting interest and support.

Meanwhile, at this meeting, Korea, along with major allied countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, shared concerns about the negative impacts of the Russia-Ukraine situation on SMEs and small business owners and discussed joint countermeasures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.