Workshop on "Enhance Capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Agricultural Sector of APEC Economies"

In an era of the worldwide economic trend, it is very an importance to sustainably develop small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro-enterprises in agricultural sector because they are a
critical engine for economical growth, able to respond flexibility to technological advancement and the
diversification of consumer needs especially in the Asia- Pacific region. The developing SMEs in storage,
processing and trade of agricultural product will offer good livelihood opportunities for people in rural
communities. This three day workshop build on exchanging information, experiences and expertise in
developing SMEs in agriculture and rural among stakeholders coming from APEC Member Economies,
including Viet Nam, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, China Mainland,
Hong Kong China, South Korea and Australia. The workshop aims to provide government, private sector
and non-governmental stakeholders with key tools and methods to manage and develop SMEs in the
field of storage, processing agricultural products. It would enable SMEs from different economies in the
region to help each other, thus boosting trading on agriculture area between them and ultimately keep
and expand the regional food security sustainable system.

Objectives
This workshop aims to promote structural reform and enhance a business-friendly environment. It has the
following specific targets:
1. Exchange information, experiences and expertise on promoting agri-business in the village and
reducing the distance between farmers and consumers.
2. Developing and strengthening the existing linkages between government, industry and trade in the
APEC economies to create appropriate policies for developing SMEs in agricultural sector.
3. Delivering human resource development in agricultural sector in less developed APEC member
economies through the information, experiences exchanged in the workshop and workshop results to
disseminate after the workshop as well as number of SMEs to set up in the agricultural sector.

Organization of workshop
This workshop will be conducted in the form of four subjects for two full days, followed by a day
field trip to Business Incubator and some trade villages.
For the two day workshop, there will be twelve speakers preparing by the workshop subject. The
speakers will make a presentation regarding their own experience on the given subject, and
the end of each topic a panel discussion based on Q&A involving the floor will be held with
moderator to facilitate and support the discussions. Each presentation will be around 30 minutes,
followed by a 45 minute panel discussion and Q&A. Participants are encouraged to contribute
the discussions through the panel discussions. The detailed descriptions of the proposed main
topics at this workshop are as follow:
Topic 1: "Overview of SMEs development in agricultural sector in the context of
economical integrate"
Topic 2: "Policy Implications and Human Resource for developing SMEs in
agricultural sector"
Topic 3: " Operational Management, Market and Product Development of SMEs in
agricultural sector"
Topic 4: " Appropriate Technology for developing SMEs in agricultural sector "

Participants and observers are encouraged to contribute paper in English, to share their ideas,
understanding and experiences related to the above mentioned topics. These papers will be
distributed to among all attendances. After that they will be edited for the publication and
distribution to workshop participants, 21ATCWG contact point, APEC secretariat, Asean
secretariat, relevant business and international organizations.
On the third day workshop, the field trips to Business Incubator and some trade villages will be
arranged, so that the participants would have the rare opportunity to visit the actual sites at where
there are a lot of Vietnamese SMEs in agricultural sector, and get to meet the people working
daily with the issues discussed.

Language
The workshop will be held in English.

Registration and Information *
For registration and further information regarding the workshop, please contact:
Ms. Do Tuyet Mai
Planning Division
Dept. of Processing of Agro-forestry Product Processing and Salt Industry
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
No.2 Ngoc Ha, Ba Dinh
Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Tel No: 84-4-7335785
Fax No: 84-4-8438144
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]

http://www.apec.org/etc/medialib/apec_media_library/downloads/workinggro...