GENERAL INFORMATION

CIRCULAR

APEC Webinar on
Relieving MSMEs’ Financial Difficulties
in the Next Normal:
Access to Finance and Credit Mediation
(SME 01 2022S)

24 March 2022
9:30 am – 17:00 pm (UTC+7)
Bangkok, Thailand

Organizer: The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion

Host Economy: Thailand
Sponsoring APEC economies: Brunei Darussalam; Chile; China; Hong Kong, China
Funded by: The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) OBJECTIVES
2) EVENT DATES
3) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
4) PARTICIPANTS
5) AGENDA
6) METHODOLOGY
7) INSTITUTION
8) APPLICATION PROCEDURE
9) REGISTRATION
10) ALLOWANCE AND EXPENSES
11) MISCELLANEOUS

ANNEXES
ANNEX I TENTATIVE AGENDA
ANNEX II PARTICIPANT NOMINATION FORM
ANNEX III SCREEN NAMES FOR ALL MEMBER ECONOMIES
ANNEX IV APEC NOMENCLATURE

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1. OBJECTIVES

The Administrative Circular includes the most relevant organizational aspects of the Webinar
on Relieving MSMEs’ Financial Difficulties in the Next Normal: Access to Finance and Credit
Mediation to be hosted virtually by The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion.

The project’s overall goal is to provide a venue to discuss on policies, good practices and to
share strategies for improving financial access mechanism for MSMEs in the APEC region.

In this webinar, we will:

1. Addressing the challenges on APEC MSMEs access to finance;
2. Discuss on Credit Mediation: Policy tools for easing cash flow problems;
3. Discuss how APEC economies can develop credit mediation scheme and which
initiative should be implemented to by government to up-take the scheme

Ideas raised during this webinar would contribute towards an APEC report entitled: “Relieving
MSMEs’ Financial Difficulties in the Next Normal: Access to Finance and Credit Mediation”
for the development of policy recommendations identifying specific actions in capacity
building by sharing good practices.

2. EVENT DATE

24 March 2022, 9:30 am – 17:00 pm (UTC+7)

(Note: this webinar will be held via Zoom. Access will be provided by Thailand prior to
the event date.)

Time Zone Economy Local Start Time

CDT Mexico; Peru 21:30
on March 23, 2022
EDT Canada; the United States 22:30
on March 23, 2022
CLST Chile 23:30
on March 23, 2022
MSK Russia 05:30
ICT Indonesia; Thailand; Viet Nam 09:30
SGT Brunei Darussalam; China; Hong Kong, China; 10:30
Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei
JST Japan; Republic of Korea 11.30
AEST Australia; Papua New Guinea 12.30
NZST New Zealand 14.30

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3. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The event will be held virtually by Zoom. No travel will be required, and the participant can
get involved in the event at their own home or office via the platform. To ensure that
the participants of this event will be able to efficiently interact with speakers, experts,
moderators, and other participants, we recommend the following Operating System and
Browser Requirements.

Browsers Microsoft Windows 7 or later (32-bit/64-bit)

• Edge 12+
• Chrome 30+
• Firefox 27+
Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.9 or later
• Safari 7+
• Chrome 30+
• Firefox 27+
Linux (32-bit/64-bit): Ubuntu 12.04 or higher, Mint 17.1 or higher, Red
Hat 6.4 or higher, Oracle Linux 6.4 or higher, CentOS 6.4 or higher, Fedora
21 or higher, OpenSUSE 13.2 or Later and ArchLinux (64-bit only)
System Windows PCs Recommended Minimum System Requirements
Requirements • Window 7 Service Pack 1 and later. Make sure your device are up-
to-date
• Minimum of Single-core 1Ghz or higher and Dual-core 2Ghz or
higher (Intel i3/i5/i7 or AMD equivalent) recommended.
Mac Recommended Minimum System Requirements
• Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.9 or later on a supported Mac.
• M1 chip or Intel CPU-based (4 GB of RAM minimum
recommended)
iPhone and iPad: iOS 8.0 or later and iPadOS 13 or later
Android Smartphones: 5.0x or later
Web: Last two major releases of one of these browsers: Google Chrome,
Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge on Computers running
Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Chromebook: The messaging, basic calling, and meetings features from
Zoom for Android are supported.
Internet broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE)
Connection
Supported Speakers and a microphone – built-in, USB plug-in, or wireless Bluetooth
Computer A webcam or HD webcam - built-in, USB plug-in, or:
Headsets/ High • An HD cam or HD camcorder with a video-capture card
quality Video- • Virtual camera software for use with broadcasting software like
Supported OBS or IP cameras (Note: For macOS, Zoom client 5.1.1 or higher
Cameras is required.)

Before the webinar date, please see below for instructions to download the application or
joining with a web browser. If the participants cannot use the software, or for any other
technical problems, please contact via E-mail: apec2022sme@gmail.com for support.

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[Get the Zoom you need]
Attendees will be suggested to download the Zoom desktop app or Zoom mobile app.
Pick the one that work best for you.
Desktop app on Windows or Mac: https://zoom.us/download
Mobile app for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id546505307
Mobile app for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.zoom.videomeetings
Help Center: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us

Alternatively, attendees can use the web app to join the webinar from your browser. This is
the easiest way to join if you are using a Chromebook, a Linux computer, or you simply do not
want to download anything. (However, the webinar organizers recommend downloading one
of the applications above, if possible, as the web browser version comes with limitations).

4. PARTICIPANTS

All APEC member economies are welcome and invited to attend and actively participate in
the webinar. Nominations for participants are sought from SME Working Group (SMEWG)
representatives. Delegates from both public and private sectors are welcome from all
member economies.

5. AGENDA

The tentative agenda of the webinar is attached as ANNEX I.

6. METHODOLOGY

(6.1) Organization of Program

Target audiences of this program are:

The target audiences of this project are experts in the MSMEs’ Finance and Credit
Mediation from APEC economies, including those from government, private sectors,
non-government organizations, universities and research centers. The webinar is
structured with the intent of maximizing discussion and the exchange of ideas among
participants and speakers. As appropriate, economies may wish to consider the nomination of
representatives from (1) government agencies, (2) non-governmental organizations,
(3) private companies and (4) academic institutions.

(6.2) Project Evaluation

This project will be evaluated by the number of audiences who participate the webinar.
Additionally, the number of best practices and recommendations that are identified will also
be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the project.

(6.3) Language
The webinar will be conducted in English and Thai. Simultaneous interpretation will be
provided throughout the webinar.

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 (6.4) Recording
All the sessions will be recorded solely for the purpose of accurate note-taking. The recording
will not be publicized via any channel.

7. INSTITUTION

The webinar will be organized by The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion
Project Overseer
Ms. Nattha Ratanawechtrakul
SME Policy Analyst
The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion, Thailand
E-mail: nattha.r@sme.go.th

For all technical and application matters, please directly contact via E-mail:
apec2022sme@gmail.com

8. APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Focal points of respective Governments of the APEC member economies in SMEWG will nominate
their expert participants to attend webinar through the following procedures:
(1) SMEWG focal points need to send copies of the Nomination Form (ANNEX II) to contact
indicated on the form with the details of the participants applying to attend the webinar
through a registration link (provided below) by the deadlines stipulated below.
(2) The deadline for any nomination is 18 March 2022.

9. REGISTRATION
Participants should send an email to the organizing committee via E-mail: apec2022sme@gmail.com
by 18 March 2022. All participants must be approved by respective APEC economies using
the template in ANNEX II. The organizing committee will assist in the registration and the approval of
APEC non-member participation.

10. ALLOWANCE AND EXPENSES

The webinar would be held virtually incurring no travel expenses.

11. MISCELLANEOUS

(11.1) After confirmation of acceptance, the Zoom Meeting links to the webinar will be
emailed upon successful registration. The link will be attached to a confirmation email
send 1 week before the event.
(11.2) Speakers can attend the test-run prior to the webinar, at 14:00 pm (UTC+7.00),
21 March 2022 to test the quality of connection and smooth progress of the webinar.
(11.3) Participants are requested to strictly observe the webinar schedule and
are encouraged to log in 15 minutes before the starting time of the webinar and follow
the guidelines in ANNEX III when setting the display name.
(11.4) APEC highly values collaboration with external stakeholders. Participation in
all APEC events is governed by APEC’s Guidelines for Managing Co-operation with
Non-members. Webinar attendance of nominees who are neither government officials
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nor part of a government delegation, for instance from the private sector academia, may
be subject to SMEWG approval as per the aforementioned Guidelines.
(11.5) The presentations and other documents from the webinar will be collated by
the Project Overseer (or delegates) who will send them to APEC Secretariat within
2 weeks of the event. The presentations will be made publicly available shortly after
through APEC’s Meeting Document Database (unless they are indicated to be for
restricted circulation only to SMEWG members). Presenters are reminded that all
webinar materials must comply with the APEC Publication Guidelines. The webinar
deliverables also need to comply with the APEC Hosting Guidelines. In particular,
organizers, speakers and participants should comply with the following IMPORTANT
APEC REQUIREMENTS contained in those Guidelines as required by APEC Senior Officials:

All attendees need to ensure while drafting any workshop documents or making
presentations at the meeting to please be mindful of APEC nomenclature. APEC
is a grouping of economies. Therefore, it is inappropriate to use anything, such as flags
or emblems, which may imply the "political status" of any member economy. Disputed
maps should not be included in any presentations or materials distributed at an APEC
event. Members of APEC should be referred to as "member economies" or "members"
or "economies". Please do not use in reference to APEC member economies the words
"country", "nation" or "national".
Please also be mindful to use the correct names of the APEC economies: Australia;
Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People's Republic of China (China also
acceptable); Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia;
Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Republic of the Philippines
(the Philippines also acceptable); the Russian Federation (Russia also acceptable);
Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America (the USA, the US or
the United States also acceptable); Viet Nam.

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 ANNEX I
TENTATIVE AGENDA

Dates: March 24, 2022, 09:30 am – 17:00 pm (UTC+7)

Location: Zoom
Organizer: The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP)
Host economy: Thailand
Time March 24, 2022 (Thursday)
(UTC+07:00)
09:00 – 09:30 Login and system checks
- Delegates to login using the assigned usernames
- Check audio and visual connections
- Connection confirmation, Familiarization with ‘Chat’ function
09:30 – 09:50 Opening Session (MC)
Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Mr. Veerapong Malai, Director General, The Office of Small and
Medium Enterprises Promotion
- Ms. Norlela Bte Suhailee, Chair of APEC SME Working Group
09:50 – 12:00 Session 1: Addressing the challenges on APEC MSMEs’ access to finance
Note: The session will be in English. Thai simultaneous interpretation will be
provided.)
- Representative from the World Bank (TBC)
- Assoc. Prof. Teerawat Charoenrat, Research Director, Faculty of
Business Administration, Khon Kaen University
- Mr. Benjamin McCarthy, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, UNESCAP
- Representative from New Zealand
- Representative from Indonesia (TBC)
Moderator: Mr. Varin Sachdev, news anchor and moderator
12:00 – 13:00 Break
13:00 – 14:20 Session 2: Credit Mediation: Policy tools for easing cash flow problems
Note: The session will be in English. Simultaneous interpretation in Thai will be
provided.)
- Mr. Sanjeev Chowdhury, Counsellor (Commercial) and Senior Trade
Commissioner, Embassy of Canada to Thailand
- Dr. Lucia Cusmano, Senior Economist, SMEs and Local Development,
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- Representative from ETHOZ Group, Singapore (TBC)
- Representative from Brussels Business Support Agency, Belgium (TBC)
Moderator: Mr. Varin Sachdev, news anchor and moderator
14:20 – 14:30 Break
14:30 – 15:50 Session 3: Applications and Implications of Credit Mediation Scheme in APEC
economies
Note: The session will be in English. Simultaneous interpretation in Thai will be
provided.)
- Dr. Junette A. Perez, De la Salle University, Philippines
- Dr. Shi Yan, Division Chief of the Financing Department of China Centre
for Promotion of SME Development, China
- Mr. Chhea Layhy, Director of SMEs Department, Ministry of Industry
and Handicraft, Cambodia (TBC)
- Representative from Chile (TBC)

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 - Representative from Hong Kong, China (TBC)
- Representative from Vietnam’s SME supporting agency (TBC)
Moderator: Mr. Varin Sachdev, news anchor and moderator
15:50 – 17:00 Summary and Closing Session
Recommendations
- Mr. Kobsak Duangdee, Secretary General of The Thai
Bankers' Association
- Mr. Pisit Puapan, Ph.D., Executive Director of Macroeconomic Policy
Bureau, Fiscal Policy Office, Ministry of Finance
- Representative from Bank of Thailand (TBC)
END OF WEBINAR

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ANNEX II
PARTICIPANT NOMINATION FORM
APEC Webinar on
Relieving MSMEs’ Financial Difficulties in the Next Normal:
Access to Finance and Credit Mediation

Complete all fields and return to the Nominations Focal Point via E-mail:
apec2022sme@gmail.com

The APEC Secretariat collects all the data provided on this form, including any personal
data, and disclosed via communications with Project Overseers, host economies, and
project participants. Disclosure includes transmission of this information outside of
Singapore.

APEC MEMBER ECONOMY: [INSERT]

NOMINEE 1
Name (CAPITALISE surname): [INSERT]
Title (Dr/Mr/Ms/Mrs): [INSERT] Position:
Gender (M/F): [INSERT]
Organization: [INSERT] Email: [INSERT]
Telephone: [INSERT] Fax: [INSERT]
Nominated as an Active Participant: Yes / No
Government Official: Yes / No

NOMINEE 2
Name (CAPITALISE surname): [INSERT]
Title (Dr/Mr/Ms/Mrs): [INSERT] Position:
Gender (M/F): [INSERT]
Organization: [INSERT] Email: [INSERT]
Telephone: [INSERT] Fax: [INSERT]
Nominated as an Active Participant: Yes / No
Government Official: Yes / No

Name of nominating official:

Economy Representative for which APEC Fora:
Title:
Organization:
Email:
Telephone:
Fax:
Please complete all fields in this form and email it to the Nominations Focal Point given
above no later than: 18 March 2022

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ANNEX III – SCREEN NAMES FOR ALL MEMBER ECONOMIES

Economy Display Name

Chair 01 Chair/Surname
Australia 02 AUS/Surname
Brunei Darussalam 03 BD/Surname
Canada 04 CDA/Surname
Chile 05 CHL/Surname
People’s Republic of China 06 PRC/Surname
Hong Kong, China 07 HKC/Surname
Indonesia 08 INA/Surname
Japan 09 JPN/Surname
Republic of Korea 10 ROK/Surname
Malaysia 11 MAS/Surname
Mexico 12 MEX/Surname
New Zealand 13 NZ/Surname
Papua New Guinea 14 PNG/Surname
Peru 15 PE/Surname
The Philippines 16 PHL/Surname
The Russian Federation 17 RUS/Surname
Singapore 18 SGP/Surname
Chinese Taipei 19 CT/Surname
Thailand 20 THA/Surname
United States 21 US/Surname
Viet Nam 22 VN/Surname
APEC Secretariat 23 APEC SEC/Surname
Moderator 24 Moderator/Surname
Keynote speaker/session speaker/panelist 25 Speaker/Surname

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ANNEX IV
APEC NOMENCLATURE

Important Notes on APEC Nomenclature

• Please use the correct terminology when preparing your presentations:
• All APEC member economies should be referred to as "member economies" or
“members” or “economies”.
• Please refrain from using the words "nation" or "national" when describing APEC
• economies. The term "member economy government" may be used as appropriate.
• Please use the term "domestic" instead of "national."
• Please refrain from using Flags or Maps in presentations.
• When listing member economies, the names should be separated by semi-colons
(e.g., Australia; Hong Kong, China; Brunei Darussalam; Canada).
• Please be mindful of using the correct names of APEC economies in your
presentations. Refer to the list below for accepted abbreviations for APEC
economies.

Accepted Abbreviations and Nomenclature for Member Economies

AUS Australia
BD Brunei Darussalam
CDA Canada
CHL Chile
PRC People’s Republic of China
HKC Hong Kong, China
INA Indonesia
JPN Japan
ROK Republic of Korea
MAS Malaysia
MEX Mexico
NZ New Zealand
PNG Papua New Guinea
PE Peru
PHL The Philippines
RUS The Russian Federation
SGP Singapore
CT Chinese Taipei
THA Thailand
US United States
VN Viet Nam

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