By Francis Chan

SMALLER firms in the region need to hone their skills and improve their capabilities so they can withstand the onslaught of crises in the future.

The advice from Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower, yesterday also came with a pledge to help.

He said officials in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) are acutely aware of the challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

'We also recognise that in each of our economies, SMEs face unique challenges which require our support,' he added.

The minister was speaking at the opening of the Apec SME Ministerial Meeting at Shangri-La Hotel.

He said the task of Apec governments now is 'even more pressing' with the financial crisis and the recent H1N1 flu outbreak.

Mr Lee proposed setting up a market research centre under Apec to help SMEs expand overseas. 'Briefly, this centre could serve as a regional enabler for Apec economies to assist SMEs in accessing global market opportunities in an integrated manner,' he said.

'It could be a platform for us to share our initiatives and programmes, and explore joint collaborations to provide regional market research and intelligence and develop core capabilities of SMEs in accessing markets.'

The plan would also involve Singapore working with the 20 other Apec economies to produce a feasibility study.

The efforts announced by Mr Lee in the last week fit the theme of 'Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region', which Singapore has introduced for Apec 2009, which will be held here next month.

The week-long Apec SME Working Group and Ministerial Meetings and related seminars end today.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.