A quiet and virtually unnoticed revolution has transformed public policy. Where policy to ensure economic growth and job creation once looked to fiscal and monetary stimulation on the one hand and the large corporation on the other, a new approach has emerged focusing on entrepreneurship. What once seemed as an anathema to economic efficiency and prosperity in the post-war era ? new and small firms ? has apparently become the engine of economic growth and job creation, not just in one economy, but spanning a broad spectrum of national, regional and local contexts.

The Korean economy has recovered markedly from the economic crisis, successfully overcoming much of the system-risk factors threatening the basic macro-viability through well-concerted efforts to restructure its corporate and financial sectors. However, even as Korea managed to come out of the crisis with better macro-fundamentals and institutional foundation, Korea is expected to face a stock of new challenges in maintaining the growth momentum and social integrity.

Patron (CEO: Jong Koo Kim), based in Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province is a promising venture company which has recorded remarkable growth in the mobile communications industry, backed by creative ideas and advanced technologies as well as innovative product features. Three years after foundation, it became a global player in the field of RF (high frequency) parts and materials.

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Generally, SMEs suffer from a lack of information on management and government support policies due to limited financial & technological resources, insufficient skilled labor force and lack of reasonable organizational structure. To redress these problems, a system, which helps SMEs access comprehensive information on management and government support policies for SMEs by stage (from establishment to exit) and by function (technology, financing, human resources, sales/exports, taxation and regulations etc.) needs to be set up.????

The Korean SMBA (Small and Medium Business Administration) has established and operated the SP

In order to design the strategy of regional innovative system development, it is necessary to identify important issues related with national innovative system. This approach is important to identify problems and challenges faced by the region. There are some issues, such as trends, that may influence the region so that the regions can find a correct approach for their innovative system development.

1. Achieving a competitive edge

One of the most challenging aspects in state of the art policymaking is the design of connecting strategies, which may provide a nourishing environment for SME?s competitiveness growth. Besides financial support services, productive and communications infrastructure and access to knowledge intensive services and sources, it is the firm?s knowledge absorptive capacity that defines competitive performance. Business strategies based on innovation activities allow building and accumulation of human and social capital, necessary to develop technological capabilities to transform knowledge into competitive goods and services.

On behalf of the APEC Secretariat, I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate the APEC SME Innovation Center on the auspicious occasion of the first edition of the E-newsletter ?APEC SME Innovation Briefing.? I would also like to thank the Government of the Republic of Korea for their great efforts in facilitating SME innovation in the APEC region.

The Small and Medium Business Administration of the Republic of Korea would like to congratulate the APEC SME Innovation Center on its first publishing of the APEC SME Innovation Briefing.

We had an in-depth discussion on promoting innovation of SMEs at last year?s ministerial meeting. We emphasized in particular that cooperation in the APEC community is important in creating an adequate economic and policy environment to strengthen innovation capacity of SMEs in APEC. Recognizing this importance, we expressed our support for an APEC SME Innovation Center in that it would play a pivotal role in reinforcing APEC cooperation for SME innovation.