The Boracay Action Agenda is APEC’s response to the inclusion challenge for SMEs to benefit more from globalization. One way to help SMEs to internationalize is by facilitating their participation in global value chains. Onboarding them in GVC’s, however, is not easy because of stringent industry standards and costly certification processes that few SMEs can afford. GVCs, for their part, are wary about fragile suppliers. Fortunately, another route to SME internationalization exists through e-commerce. 

This policy brief builds on the 2017 PSU study on Promoting E-commerce to Globalize MSMEs and discusses the trade prospects in e-commerce and policy issues that an APEC agenda on SMEs and e-commerce can include.