JAKARTA, 27 July 2022 – Today, ASEAN Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) officials concluded the Regional Kick-off Meeting for ASEAN SME Policy Index 2024.
The two-day hybrid meeting was attended by 55 officials from SME development agencies from ASEAN Member States (AMS), representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East-Asia (ERIA), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the ASEAN Secretariat.
The updated edition, scheduled for publication in 2024, will revisit the assessments presented in the previous edition and examine recent developments and new trends impacting the SME policy landscape in Southeast Asia and AMS.
In his welcoming remarks, Thein Swe, Director-General of Myanmar’s Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection, and the Chair of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME), underscored the importance of the reassessment and updates of methodologies, learning from lessons stemming from the pandemic and impacts arising from the current global situations.
Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Economic Community, echoed the sentiment. In his opening remarks, he shared the key policy dimensions on digitalisation, promoting SME access to trade financing, and sustainable economy to be incorporated in the updated ASEAN SME Policy Index.
Leading the OECD Southeast Asia Division, Dr Böhmer highlighted that the ASEAN SME Policy Index will be helpful for policymakers as it puts numbers on relevant SME policies, and allow benchmarking of policy frameworks across countries. This would enable policymakers to zoom in on areas of strengths and weaknesses, and collaborate effectively at a regional level.
ERIA’s Chief Operating Officer Koji Hachiyama underlined the significance of SME policy index as the “assessment of the policies that shape the development of MSMEs can certainly help these enterprises in finding the necessary adjustments to successfully navigate the post-pandemic era.”
Martin Hansen, Country Director Indonesia, ASEAN, and Timor Leste, highlighted the ASEAN Access platform in his remarks. Owned by the ten AMS and managed by the Office of SME Promotion (OSMEP) Thailand, the platform offers the possibility to carry out virtual matchmaking, trainings and workshops on SME-relevant topics , in addition to supporting information on markets and trade in ASEAN.
Based on the methodology developed by OECD, the SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool for emerging economies to monitor and evaluate policies that support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). It aims to improve the capacity of policymakers to identify policy areas for future reforms and implement them in accordance with international good practices.
The SME Policy Index covers eight policy areas related to SME development, namely:
(1) Productivity, technology and innovation;
(2) Environmental policies and SMEs;
(3) Access to finance;
(4) Access to market and internationalisation;
(5) Institutional framework;
(6) Legislation, regulation and tax;
(7) Entrepreneurial education and skills; and
(8) Social enterprises and inclusive SMEs.
The ASEAN SME Policy Index 2024 is a joint effort between ASEAN through the ACCMSME, OECD, and ERIA. The new edition is supported with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the GIZ. The initiative contributes to the achievement of ASEAN’s strategic goals and desirable outcomes for SMEs, as outlined in the Strategic Action Plan 2016-2025 for SME Development.
The ASEAN SME Policy Index 2018 can be accessed from this link.
