Press Release

DGTI attends APEC ministerial meeting
Tuesday, October 5, 2004

The Director-General of Trade and Industry, Mr Raymond Young will represent the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology at the APEC 11th Ministerial Meeting on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) on October 6 and 7 in Santiago, Chile.

At the meeting, ministers from APEC member economies responsible for SME policies will discuss the Santiago Agenda on Entrepreneurship, which aims at formulating APEC policy on entrepreneurship promotion activities. The agenda categorises public policies for entrepreneurship promotion into four areas - developing human capital, accessing funding, removing barriers for business development, and innovation and technology.

During the two-day meeting, ministers will exchange views and discuss ways on facilitating the further development of SMEs. They will also meet representatives of the APEC International Business Forum. The forum will be attended by entrepreneurs and academics from APEC member economies.

APEC comprises 21 members - Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, China; Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Republic of Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States of America and Vietnam.

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