Analyzing the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Asian developing countries, the book is based on a survey of key literature and data on SMEs with the focus on; recent development, export performance, main constraints, competitiveness, innovation and technology transfer, and female entrepreneurs.

This title was first published in 2000: As in many other LDCs, in Indonesia small-scale industries (SSIs) are important, particularly with respect to the creation of employment opportunities. SSIs are expected to absorb many millions of workers who have been displaced by current economic crisis. This work seeks to explain the pattern of development of SSIs in Indonesia within a broader theoretical framework. It also deals with a number of SSI development-related aspects that in Indonesia so far have never or rarely been studied, such as the formation of strategic alliance, cluster development, and application of theories of flexible specialization to the LDCs. The book also tries to examine empirically the effects of the current economic crisis and to assess theoretically the likely impact of the full implementation of the agreed IMF reform package on SSI development in the country. Main problems faced by small producers and the government policy environment are highlighted through several detailed examples.

Analyzing the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Asian developing countries, the book is based on a survey of key literature and data on SMEs with the focus on; recent development, export performance, main constraints, competitiveness, innovation and technology transfer, and female entrepreneurs.

From a worldwide perspective, it has been recognized that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a vital role in economic development, as they have been the primary sources of job/employment creation and output growth. Even now it is generally believed that sustainable and inclusive economic development in developing regions (i.e. Asia, Africa and Latin America) depends to a large extent on the vibrant private sector, in particular MSMEs. This book is about MSMEs in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), providing most recent evidence on development and performance of the enterprises in individual member states (i.e. Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Kambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam). Historically, MSMEs have always been the main players in domestic economic activities in the region. In all member states, the enterprises made up more than 90 percent of all enterprises, total employment, and even in some member states the enterprises contributed more than 50 per cent to their gross domestic products (GDP). Currently, one important issue regarding the development of MSMEs, not only in ASEAN but also in other developing regions in the world, is about the long run prospect of their existence or development in the course of increasing pressures of world trade liberalisation and economic globalisation. This book tries to answer the key question that currently is still under both academic and public debates, namely can MSMEs, especially micro enterprises, survive in the long-run in course of increasing competition pressures in both domestic and regional/international markets? The question is particular important for MSMEs in ASEAN as it is going to implement fully liberalisation in trade and investment in 2015, known as ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Despite the fact that the above mentioned issue is increasingly important, unfortunately, not so many books have been published so far that touches this particular issue. Therefore, this book is to fill this gap.

This book examines the economic crisis and vulnerability with reference to certain countries in East Asia. The main reason that this book focuses on Indonesia is because since 1990 until recently Indonesia has been hit by two big economic crises. The first one was a regional economic crisis in Southeast Asia during the period 1997-98. The crisis was triggered by a sudden capital flight which led to currency crisis and ended up as financial/economic crises in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea. The second crisis was the global economic crisis in the period 2008-09. The crisis rapidly developed and spread into a global economic shock, resulting in a number of bank failures, declines in various stock indexes, and large reductions in the market value of equities and commodities.