SMEs: Asean’s ‘untapped resource’

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remain one of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) untapped resources and governments has a critical role to play in the sector’s success. This was the message of experts in a recent forum organized by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department of Trade and Industry, Management Association of the Philippines, and Financial Executives of the Philippines. The experts agreed that the contribution of SMEs, particularly in terms of job generation and contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in Asean is increasing and that much can still be done to unleash the sector’s potential.