Background
Due to the development of technology, digital economy has become the core of economic growth nowadays. It is getting hard for business owners to make cross-border trades and to have access to global market if they do not embrace digital transformation.
Acknowledging the issue mentioned above, the 2017 APEC O2O Initiative aims to help SMEs/startups and entrepreneurs adopt Online-to-Offline(O2O) business model by enhancing cooperation between public and private sectors. Policy makers of APEC economies, owners of e-commerce platforms, MNCs, incubators, accelerators and experts etc. will be engaged to foster SMEs/startups to fully utilize the opportunities created by digital technologies.
Furthermore, APEC O2O initiative also aims to raise awareness of digital resilience among SMEs/startups. The development of digital technology brings not only opportunities of economic growth, but also more exposure to cyber threats.
Cyber threat has become a growing concern and a crucial challenge to all firms regardless of their size. Therefore, it is vital to better prepare SMEs/Startups to defend themselves from those threats.
It is only when SMEs can fully understand the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation, they are able to unleash their potential for sustainable, innovative, inclusive and quality growth toward a shared future.
About the Event
Chinese Taipei will co-host “APEC Online-to-Offline (O2O) Forum” with Viet Nam, the host of 45th SMEWG, on 10 September 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
This forum, expected to attract around 100 stakeholders, aims to (1) enhance digital competitiveness and resilience for startups; (2) provide startups a platform to present their business plans to the Board of Directors who will give comments on their business plans, as well as advices regarding accounting, and legal issues; (3) raise the awareness of cyber security when SMEs/startups adopt O2O business model to grasp the opportunity generated by digital technology,
The startups recommended by APEC economies fall into four innovative categories: (1) M-Commerce (e.g. Mobile based/APP commerce), (2) Sharing Economy (e.g. Peer-to-Peer consumption for consumer commerce), (3) Internet of Things (e.g. Access distributed entrepreneurial resource through online platforms) and (4) Next Generation Innovation (e.g. Innovative technologies blending the boundary of virtual and real world).
At this one-day forum, there will be one conversation keynote titled: O2O Business: Opportunities and Challenges of Modernizing SMEs to Go Global; one innovation dialogue titled: Unleash the Potential of SMEs through Digital Transformation for a Shared Future; one APEC innovation study; and a board meeting where experts offer advices and guides on the business plans presented by startups.
For more information about this forum please contact,
Ms. Lucy Pan(d33236@tier.org.tw)
Ms. Daisy Liu(d32438@tier.org.tw)
Ms. Sasha Wang(d33203@tier.org.tw)
Ms. Sonya Liu(d32115@tier.org.tw)
