KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Malaysia is of the view that “Inclusive Business” (IB) is key to building back the economy better and stronger, said Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar.
Therefore, said Noh, “the government is promoting IB as an avenue for addressing the needs of the B40 (lower income group) at scale.”
“Collaboration would be the driving factor for IB models as we bring together private and public sector entities as well as civil society to address today’s global challenges which require creative approach about how best they can work together,” Noh said in a statement in conjunction with the 27th Apec SME Ministerial Meeting (SMEMM).
Noh led the Malaysian delegation to the meeting on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which was held yesterday, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) said in the same statement.
The SMEMM was convened virtually and chaired by Stuart Nash, New Zealand’s Minister of Small Business, and attended by Apec SME Ministers and representatives from 21 economies.
Adopting the theme “Join, Work, Grow. Together”, the participating economies discussed and shared their best practices to strengthen SME resilience and build sustainable economic growth in Apec economies.
The ministry said “Apec economies recognised the unparalleled disruption and the economies remained committed to intensifying cooperation, capacity building, and the sharing of best practices through Apec.”
The economies also deliberated the need for accelerating SMEs’ adoption of and adaptation to digital innovation, supporting more inclusive growth strategies, and addressing SME wellbeing following the pandemic, it added.
“In its joint statement (following the meeting,) SME ministers acknowledged the essential role of a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable, and open trade and investment environment to enhance micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups’ access to international markets and supply chains; to combat the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic; and to enable a strong economic recovery,” said Medac.
“The SME Ministers stood united to deepen regional collaboration for a sustainable recovery of SMEs across the Asia-Pacific and committed to contribute to the Apec Putrajaya Vision 2040 for an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040,” said the ministry’s statement. — Bernama
