SME Technological Progress and Cooperation in Chinese Taipei : Implications to Selected APEC Economies

Chinese Taipei became one of the most successful economies in Asia after the WWII, and the country was one of the four Asian tigers together with the Republic of Korea, Chinese Hong Kong and Singapore. Their economic achievement was mainly originated from the development of SMEs which government policies were effectively implemented and brought strong impacts on technological progress. SMEs were able to obtain technologies through research and development, and technology transfer from developed countries with various cooperation programs. However, APEC economies notably Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have achieved economic development and SME technological promotion, but they are not comparable with Chinese Taipei. This paper analyses Chinese Taipei government policies on SMEs, technological progress, and technology cooperation with developed countries. These areas are compared with other four APEC economies. It brings some suggestions how APEC can enhance SME technology cooperation with other countries