The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Online-to-Offline Summit wrapped up May 31 in Taipei City, with officials and business representatives from APEC’s 21 member economies, as well as 270 innovative startups from across the region, making headway in identifying new opportunities and sharing best practices in the digital economy.
 
Organized by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration under the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of Economic Affairs in conjunction with agencies in Malaysia and the Philippines, the one-day summit focused on overcoming business challenges and such key issues as strengthening SME digital competitiveness and resilience, financial and health technologies, Internet of Things, mobile commerce, next-generation innovation and sharing economy.
 
The summit also established an SME O2O expert network and scheduled a series of follow-up activities for later this year in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
 
MOEA Minister Lee Chih-kung said during his summit address that O2O business models are opening the door for SMEs to engage in expanded cross-border trade. By working together at events such as these, SMEs from across the Asia-Pacific can keep abreast of the latest cybersecurity threats and strengthen response capabilities, he added.
 
According to the ministry, Taiwan is one of the most active member economies in APEC and a global leader in digital technology, innovative entrepreneurship and SME development. As such, it has proposed initiatives every year in the regional economic forum since 2003 to assist SMEs with building capacity.
 
The theme of this year’s summit is Enhancing SME Digital Competitiveness and Resilience towards Quality Growth. It is part of the second stage of the four-year O2O Initiative launched by Taiwan in 2015. Stage three, which is set to commence in 2018, will see the country join with Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in leading the drive to help SMEs realize their potential via digital transformation.
 
In addition to introducing international resources to foster innovative startups in the four member economies, the third stage of the initiative will enable Taiwan SMEs to grow their footprints in these emerging markets while building a shared digital future under the principles of mutual benefits and resource sharing.
 
According to the MOEA, this approach is in line with the New Southbound Policy. A key component of the government’s national development strategy, the policy seeks to deepen Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, educational, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand. (SFC-E)
 
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