By Francis Chan

Singapore has taken the lead in helping smaller businesses in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) region expand to new markets.

Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan announced two new initiatives yesterday, at the opening event of this year's Apec SME Working Group & Ministerial Meetings and related seminars, held at the Shangri-La Hotel.

The event, called Accelerating SMEs' Access to Global Markets, will address issues affecting them in the downturn to help position them for post-crisis growth by tapping into new global markets.

SMEs tend to underestimate the barriers they may face in overseas ventures. A key challenge is the lack of market knowledge, said Mr Lee.

But he believes that one of the best ways for SMEs to understand a foreign market is to simply immerse in it.

The first initiative he proposed is the Apec Business Fellowship (ABF).

The five-day executive training programme will cover a series of market-related topics structured for easy understanding and learning.

The programme was designed based on the results of an Apec-wide survey, led by International Enterprise Singapore, on the globalisation needs of SMEs.

Mr Lee also proposed a study on the effective models for an Export Technical Assistance project.

It mirrors Spring Singapore's Export Technical Assistance Centre, which helps companies understand and comply with the standards and technical regulations when exporting.

'The study is expected to produce insights into best practices across various Apec economies, which can be shared among member economies for mutual learning,' he said.

Both the ABF and the study on technical barriers to trade are expected to be rolled out by next year.

To reiterate the importance of cross-border cooperation and exchange of information with Apec members, Mr Lee cited a 2003 Apec report.

It said that SMEs can potentially add about US$1 trillion (S$1.4 trillion) in trade and US$150 billion in foreign direct investments annually to Apec economies.

This, however, can take place only if structural changes allow for a simpler, more business-friendly and more integrated Apec economy to emerge, he said.

Aside from entrepreneurs, the seminars over the week-long event will also be attended by Apec ministers and senior officials in the 21-member group.

The meetings are part of the year-long Apec Singapore 2009 forums, which will culminate in the Apec leaders' week from Nov 8 to 15.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.