Taiwan-proposed O2O Initiative wraps up at APEC meeting

2016/09/12

The results of the Taiwan-proposed Online-to-Offline Initiative were presented Sept. 9 at the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru, which was attended by representatives from all 21 APEC member economies.

Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-Chin briefed the participating officials and delegations on the outcomes of the initiative, which was proposed by Taiwan in 2015 in cooperation with the Philippines. The plan received 11 co-sponsorships and financing of US$138,628 from the APEC Support Fund.

“Digital innovation has changed the way businesses operate, bringing both opportunities and challenges,” Shen said. “Taiwan has launched aggressive measures to help SMEs enhance their digital competitiveness, and by doing so is working to advance the nation’s five major industrial development objectives.” The deputy minister was referring to Taiwan’s efforts to bolster five major innovative industries, namely biotech and pharmaceuticals, sustainable energy, national defense and smart machinery, as well as the Internet of Things and other smart technologies.

The APEC initiative was designed to promote and assist SMEs participating in digital ventures while at the same time creating a network of O2O experts. The plan led to five exhibitions and meetings this year, including the APEC SME O2O Forum II held Sept. 6 in Lima.

Over the course of the five events, more than 60 outstanding startups displayed their strengths in areas such as mobile commerce, the sharing economy, collaborative industry solutions and next-generation innovations. In addition, officials and entrepreneurs shared their business experiences and success stories, which will be compiled in an APEC SME O2O best practice handbook to be published at the end of the year.

Taiwan will work with the Philippines and Malaysia in 2017 to carry out the second phase of the APEC O2O Initiative, which will involve collaboration between public-private partnerships to strengthen the digital competitiveness and resilience of SMEs while helping them tackle the challenges of digital information security. The plan, which received 13 co-sponsorships and US$136,260 in funding from APEC, will serve as an international collaborative platform for digital capacity building as well as business matching and networking services.

Over the years, Taiwan has spearheaded several projects to accelerate growth in the Asia-Pacific region and proposed a number of SME-related initiatives, which have secured financing totaling US$1.73 million from the APEC Support Fund.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=247843&ctNode=2194&mp=9)