Workshop on Trade, Global Value Chains, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 2020 | Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) | 5 February 2020 | Asian Development Bank Institute, Kasumigaseki Building, Level 8, 3 Chome-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-6008, Japan

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are boosting their production and sales by taking advantage of trade and supply chain opportunities provided by the globalized economic environment. For example, some SMEs are increasingly exporting to foreign markets while others are tapping into global value chains (GVCs) developed by large international companies.

Through these activities, SMEs are obtaining technology and management know-how, sales and procurement network access, and enhanced growth capacity. However, relatively few SMEs are fully capitalizing given obstacles including financial, technical, and human-resource constraints.

This research workshop will investigate how SMEs are responding to the globalized economic environment and its importance to developing countries in Asia and the Pacific. The focus will be on paper findings that assess SMEs' export and GVC participation, barriers, and how firms can overcome them. This includes drawing upon papers’ detailed, statistical research and/or case studies using firm-level/plant-level data for a selected country/economy.