22nd APEC Automotive Dialogue highlights the integration of Small and Medium

Enterprises into Global Value Chains

More than 100 representatives from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

(APEC) member economies converged in the recent 22nd APEC Automotive
Dialogue (APEC AD) held at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Ayala Center, Makati City,
Philippines last 21-24 April 2015 to discuss how the APEC member
economies can move toward more integrated regional and global approaches
to automotive policies.
Themed Integrating SMEs into the Automotive Global Value Chains, the
22nd APEC AD gathered participants from different APEC member economies
including Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Mexico, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Viet Nam and the United
States.
Mainstreaming SMEs into global and regional production networks is one of
the four priorities of the Philippines as host of APEC Year 2015.
Internationalization of SMEs by promoting their participation in global value
chains (GVCs) was given emphasis in recognition of their significant
contribution to job creation and inclusive growth. Small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 97 percent of all businesses (99.6
percent in the Philippines) and employ over half of the workforce across
APEC economies.
Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo of the Department of Trade and Industry,
the keynote speaker of the event, highlighted the need to deliberately foster
SME participation in automotive GVCs. Globalized competition and barriers
to trade have a disproportionate impact on SMEs and on larger enterprises,
he said.

He added that in fostering SME development for inclusive growth... broad

based SME network is critical in providing support and complementation to
larger enterprises.... SME development is key not only for inclusive growth
but for sustaining competitive advantage.
He identified the development of an actionable agenda as a tangible
opportunity for cooperation in the region through the implementation of the
GSAS Project (GVC-SME for the Automotive Sector). Proposed by the
Philippines and Malaysia, the GSAS Project is under Koreas umbrella project
of Capacity-building for SMEs Integration into Global Value Chains in Major
Industries.
Small and medium entrepreneurs in the Philippines including Mr. Dennis
Chan, President of Famous Secret Precision Machining, Mr. Rommel Juan, CEO
of MD Juan Enterprises also shared their respective stories in the Integration
Experiences of Auto Parts SMEs from Developing APEC Economies.
The University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI)
through its Director, Prof. Nestor O. Raneses and Ms. Nova Z. Navo, head of
the Institutes Research Division participated in the event as part of the
delegation from the Philippines.
The APEC Automotive Dialogue is a bi-annual event that serves as an avenue
for APEC member economy officials and senior industry representatives to
collaborate in the formulation of strategies to bring to a higher level the
integration and development of the automotive sector within the region.
The Automotive Dialogue first met in 1999 in Indonesia and has continued to
meet every year since then. The last meeting of the APEC AD was held in
Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China on 16-19 September 2014. ###