Search | APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership

MSME Mentorship Program Wraps Up with Three Graduation Ceremonies

From July to December 2025, 67 MSME entrepreneurs in Malaysia and Thailand took part in the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership’s (ACGBP) mentorship program.

December 19, 2025

Key Reflections over Mission to Southeast Asia

The joint mission provided opportunities to meet with local implementation partners, government counterparts, and Canadian overseas missions, as well as to participate in several project events. It was a successful trip,…

December 19, 2025

Advancing Inclusive MSMEs in Indonesia: Reflections on the ACGBP Policy Leadership Workshop Series

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) are major contributors to Indonesia’s economy, responsible for approximately 60 per cent of the country’s GDP and employing 95 per cent of the workforce.

December 3, 2025

Highlights of FTU FIIS’s 1st Policy Leadership Workshop

The Foreign Trade University’s Innovation and Incubation Space (FTU FIIS) recently launched its Policy Leadership Workshop Series in Viet Nam.

November 4, 2025

Strengthening Cultural MSMEs Through Inclusive, Gender-Sensitive Policy Innovation in The Philippines

The APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership is launching a Policy Leadership Workshop Series in the Philippines in collaboration with the Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN).

September 29, 2025

Promoting Malaysian Women’s Economic Empowerment Through Mentorship and Training

APF Canada has launched two mentorship programs aimed at building capacity for women MSME entrepreneurs in Malaysia in collaboration with the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM) and Women of W…

September 29, 2025

Contributing to Capacity-Building for Women-led MSMEs in Thailand Through Individual and Group Training

APF Canada has partnered with Kenan Foundation Asia in Thailand to deliver gender-responsive capacity building programs aimed at women entrepreneurs' skills and knowledge of best practices in business management.

September 29, 2025

Workshop Series: Inclusive Business – Solutions to Promote Sustainable Competition in the New Era

In collaboration with the Foreign Trade University's Innovation and Incubation Space (FIIS), the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership (ACGBP) is hosting a series of workshops aimed at improving inclusive and sustaina…

September 19, 2025

Workshop Series: MSMEs for Inclusive Growth in Indonesia

In collaboration with the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI), the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership (ACGBP) is launching a series of …

September 15, 2025

Recap: The APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership Team’s Mission to Viet Nam

The ACGBP team travelled to Viet Nam from July 12–23, 2025, to visit local partners, consult with the local government and the Embassy of Canada to Viet Nam, and attend the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) III meeti…

September 9, 2025

APF Canada Launches Activities in the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership

The APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership (ACGBP) is an initiative working to improve inclusive, sustainable growth for MSMEs in five ‘focus economies’: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

August 7, 2025

WOW Mentorship & Research Program Kick-Off Session

APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership - Phase II Held on 14 July 2025 at the Women Of Will (WOW) office in Kuala Lumpur, the Kick-Off Session marked the official launch of WOW’s mentorship and research progra…

July 14, 2025

Business Management Workshop: Networking & Closing Event

Hosted by the Kenan Foundation Asia On June 24th, 2025, the Kenan Foundation Asia hosted a successful Business Management Workshop in Thailand. Special guest speakers included Mr. Sanjeev Chowdhury, Counsellor (Comme…

June 24, 2025

Frequently Asked Questions - Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI)

To facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the Request for Proposal (RFP) and ensure clarity in the bidding process, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) has prepared this Frequently Asked Questions (FA…

April 10, 2024

2020 Survey of Entrepreneurs and MSMEs in Peru: Building the Capacity of MSMEs Through Social Entrepreneurship

A national survey of entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Peru to provide an analysis of business development in the region, and to better understand the opportunities and challenges faced by …

August 25, 2022

APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership Welcomes Phase II Expansion

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada welcomes the support of the Government of Canada and thanks Global Affairs Canada for its funding of the Phase II expansion of the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership.

August 15, 2022

APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership Capstone Conference

From May 19-20 2021, APF Canada hosted the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership Capstone Conference, a two-day virtual symposium that gathered policymakers, micro and small business entrepreneurs to discuss pressing …

May 28, 2021

Advancing Inclusive Growth in the APEC Region: Challenges and Policy Solutions for MSMEs

This capstone policy paper highlights the key policy findings and recommendations from throughout the Partnership’s implementation cycle in response to six key thematic areas featured in the project’s capstone conference…

May 26, 2021

The New Normal: Digitalization of MSMEs in Indonesia

By 2022 the digital economy will be responsible for a staggering 60 per cent of global GDP. And with the world grappling with the effects of COVID-19, we have seen an acceleration in digital adoption. With the disruption…

February 9, 2021

Meet Estela - Mentorship Program

Estela is a graduate of our Mentoring Women in Business Programme who participated between May 2019 and May 2020. Six months on from graduation, we caught up with Estela on her treasured experience.

January 29, 2021

Meet Hayati - Mentorship Program

Hayati is a graduate of our Mentoring Women in Business programme who participated between November 2018 and November 2019. A year on from graduation, we spoke to Hayati and she told us her mentoring story.

January 27, 2021

Meet Liel - Mentorship Program

Liel is a graduate of our Mentoring Women in Business programme, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, taking part between November 2018 and November 2019. Here is an overview of her experiences as…

January 21, 2021

Meet Julia - Mentorship Program

Julia is a graduate of our Mentoring Women in Business Programme, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, taking part between November 2018 and November 2019. Here’s an overview of her experiences as…

January 19, 2021

APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership Announces Project Advisory Committee

The APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership (Partnership) is honoured to announce its new Project Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC convenes established experts, business leaders, and outstanding academics from across i…

January 8, 2021

Financing for Social Entrepreneurs in Peru

Latin America is a region characterized by creativity and constant transformation where entrepreneurial activities have spawned not just out of a necessity to generate income but also out of opportunity and driven by eco…

November 6, 2020

Scaling up MSMEs and Social Entrepreneurship in Peru: A Virtual Roundtable

On October 14, 2020, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), in partnership with Kunan Peru Plataforma Peruana de Emprendimiento Socio Ambiental and the APEC Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of …

October 14, 2020

Lessons in Survival and Success from Peru’s Entrepreneurial Landscape

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up the lion’s share of businesses in the Asia Pacific. Across the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc, MSMEs represent 97 per cent of all businesses a…

September 16, 2020

APEC's Pursuit of Global Cooperation

As COVID-19 takes its toll on the global economy, the need for international cooperation has seldom been so urgent. A recent report from APEC predicts a 3.7 per cent contraction in the region's economy — a tota…

September 9, 2020

Fuelling High-Tech Startups: Building the Capacity of MSMEs through Technology and Innovation

A national survey of entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Peru to provide an analysis of business development in the region, and to better understand the opportunities and challenges faced by …

August 31, 2020

The Existing Landscape of Social Entrepreneurship in Peru

This study examines the existing landscape of social entrepreneurship in Peru. We describe the on-the-ground situation of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country, the resources available, the policies recomm…

April 1, 2020

Considerations for APEC Mining Economies: Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Social Entrepreneurship in the Context of Peru

This paper investigates how public policies regarding MSMEs in Peru enable a favourable environment for businesses in mining regions. Furthermore, it considers how MSME policies in Peru support social entrepreneurship (S…

February 26, 2020

Financing for Social Entrepreneurship in Peru

A scan of the literature on social entrepreneurship in Peru presents a paradox: higher-than-average levels of entrepreneurship and yet a comparatively underdeveloped social entrepreneurship and impact investing ecosystem…

February 20, 2020

APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership MSME, Competitiveness, and Social Innovation Training Day

On September 14, 2019, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day training introduced relevant best practices for entrepreneurs and MSMEs through presentations by Canadian and Peruvian trainers on busi…

September 14, 2019

Canada and Vietnam Establish New Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Inclusivity, Sustainability, and AI in the Context of MSMEs

From November 8th to November 11th, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a historic visit to Vietnam where he and Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, announced a comprehensive economic partnership. After 44 …

August 12, 2019

Entrepreneurial Drivers of AgTech in the Philippines

Modern agriculture has evolved from farmers operating simple mechanized tractors to using high-tech drone imagery of fields or digital farm information systems navigated by a mobile app. Drones and agriculture-smart mobi…

June 24, 2019

Human Capital for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMES) in APEC Developing Economies: Indonesia

This report investigates how institutional environments influence the usefulness of individuals’ human capital for entrepreneurial activity, that is, new business creation. Based on the logic of institutional theory, var…

May 29, 2019

The Role of Gender In Micro and Small Enterprise Business Development In Indonesia: A Firm-Level Analysis

In this study, we examine the role that gender plays in Indonesian micro and small enterprise (MSE) dynamics. The MSE business scene in Indonesia is characterized by a high degree of informality, often involving unpaid f…

May 23, 2019

Change Makers: Supporting Social Entrepreneurs in Peru

On May 15, 2019, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day research and policy workshop in Lima, Peru which brought together Canadian and Peruvian researchers, policy-makers, and local entrepreneurs t…

May 15, 2019

Replacing Plastics with Seaweed in Indonesia's Growing MSME Sector

As part of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership team, University of British Columbia international relations and political science students Avneet Darred, Sandra Lin, and Chanp…

February 13, 2019

Micro and Small Businesses in Indonesia’s Digital Economy

The digital economy has afforded Indonesia’s MSMEs unprecedented opportunities for inclusive growth within local, regional, and even global value chains. E-commerce, social media, the sharing economy, and cloud-based ana…

February 12, 2019

The Challenges to SME Market Access in the Philippines and the Role of Business Associations

This research report evaluates the relationship between membership in business associations (such as chambers of commerce and cooperatives) and market access for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines, an…

January 23, 2019

A Case Study for the Use of Blockchain Technology for Philippine Coffee Growers

The report will offer an overview of the Philippine coffee industry, a case study of an MSME in the Philippine coffee farming and exporting industry, and an emerging technology company attempting to bring trade transpare…

January 1, 2019

#TRAININGDAY Helping Your Small Business Grow in Indonesia

On November 21, 2018, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day training introduced relevant best practices for entrepreneurs and MSMEs through presentations by Canadian and Indonesian trainers on bus…

November 21, 2018

Angat Negosyo: Growing Local and International Filipino MSMEs

On July 3, 2018, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day training which introduced relevant best practices for entrepreneurs and MSMEs through presentations by Canadian and Filippino trainers on bus…

November 17, 2018

2018 Survey of Entrepreneurs and MSMEs in the Philippines: Building the Capacity of MSMEs Through Market Access

A national survey of entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines to provide an analysis of business development in the region, and to better understand the opportunities and challenge…

October 29, 2018

2018 Survey of Entrepreneurs and MSMEs in Indonesia: Building the Capacity of MSMEs Through Human Capital

A national survey of entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia to provide an analysis of business development in the region, and to better understand the opportunities and challenges face…

October 25, 2018

Skilling Up: Fostering a Robust MSME Workforce in Indonesia

On July 5, 2018, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day research and policy workshop brought together Canadian and Indonesian researchers, policy-makers, and local entrepreneurs to discuss APF Cana…

July 5, 2018

Breaking Through: Market Access Potential for MSMEs in the Philippines

On July 3, 2018, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership hosted a one-day research and policy workshop brought together Canadian and Filipino researchers, policy-makers, and local entrepreneurs to discuss APF Canada…

July 3, 2018

Innovation Policy to Promote MSME Growth: Best Practices and Implications for Vietnam and Other APEC Developing Economies

This study reviews best practices around the world, explores how innovation policy can help promote MSME development, and describes the status of Vietnam’s innovation policy for MSMEs. The study provides recommendations …

March 23, 2018