Report exposes small-business concerns over digital-trade rules
The Asia Pacific MSME Trade Coalition (AMTC) has released a report assessing how the digital economy offers Micro, Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs) in the region an opportunity to overcome traditional small-business hurdles to exporting.
It also aims to give MSMEs a voice in the ongoing debate on regulating the digital economy.
The report highlights the risk of digital-trade rules being discussed or built without smaller enterprises in mind, and possibly undermining the substantial global trade opportunity for Asia’s MSMEs.
The report finds that the digital technologies have lowered export costs of an average MSME by as much as 82 per cent and reduced the time involved in exporting for MSMEs by up to 29 per cent.
Yet the export success of Asia-Pacific’s MSMEs relies on sound regulation of digital trade, which is crucial if they are to continue reaping its benefits.
“The fact is that MSMEs are, and have been for a while, the region’s economic backbone, accounting for 96 per cent of all businesses, employing 62 per cent of the workforce and making up 42 per cent of total export values,” said AMTC chairman pro-tem Jerry Ho.
“Yet much of today’s trade and regulatory discussions in relation to the digital economy are focused on multinational enterprises. The benefits of using digital technology for Asia-Pacific’s small and medium-sized exporters are substantial, meaning they need a voice in these discussions.”