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New Zealand seeking opportunities for SMEs at APEC meeting

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand will be looking to grow opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region at an international meeting on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines this week, Small Business Minster Craig Foss said Wednesday.

Foss is to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Meeting on Mainstreaming Small and Medium Businesses in the Global Economy.

"In New Zealand SMEs account for 97 percent of our companies and they generate 27 percent of gross domestic product and thousands of jobs annually," Foss said in a statement.

"Attending the ministerial meeting will give me an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to SMEs with ministerial counterparts from other APEC members."

It was an opportunity to discuss how to increase New Zealand SMEs' participation in the Asia-Pacific, a region with increasing export growth opportunities.

Foss would speak in the panel discussion on Removing Barriers to Facilitate SMEs' Entry to international Markets.

Fostering SMEs' participation in the regional and global economies was one of the specific priorities on the APEC agenda this year. Endi