MANILA – Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member economies, including the Philippines, can work together in providing the necessary global public goods to boost development of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector and social enterprises (SEs). Leonardo A. Lanzona, Jr., consultant of government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said needed public goods could be in the form of technical know-how and infrastructure, including disaster relief and mitigation measures. “The promotion and protection of cultural diversity, core labor rights, and the environment through global cooperation are also regarded as global public goods,” he said in a policy notes published by the PIDS. Lanzona stressed that support measures can “move them out of poverty and eventually increase the incomes and productivity of SEs.” SEs, which provide public goods to communities, are deemed crucial to SME development and labor generation. To support the SME sector, Apec foresees the formation of a global value chain (GVC), which refers to a value chain that operates in more than one economy. GVCs not only cover vertical links among different tiers of suppliers along the chain, but also horizontal links involving the interaction among suppliers of the same tier. Along the GVC, a major part of value creation is derived from product and process innovation, as well as in branding and marketing. Lanzona thus underscored the need for Apec to help support SEs by linking them to GVCs. Meanwhile, the PIDS paper said non-government organizations (NGOs), given their expertise and broad connection, can also link these SEs and production units (household enterprises) into the GVC. pna