The year of 2019 has started and overcome its first weeks. A right way to make the year efficient is to set goals to achieve beforehand. This is the main part of planning, and then one just needs to follow the plan systematically. We are looking forward to great events in 2019. Lingvista and Smart Business Trips invited attention of APEC to Siberia, so this year our region (maybe our hometown Tomsk precisely) will host an international APEC event.
We have been studying APEC activities, rules and priorities for a year and a half. In 2018, we launched two projects with APEC. Both were supported by all the Forum participants, which are 21 world economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, The United States, and Viet Nam. Our projects are announced in two separate working groups: Small and Medium Enterprises and Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy. Both projects are approved: this means that we truly understand needs of Asia-Pacific region and are able to offer effective solutions of actual tasks.
One of our projects is APEC Financial Opportunities Fair for Women-led SMEs, initiated together with Chinese Taipei. It will be held in two economies: in Russia, possibly in Tomsk, in June 2019 and in Chinese Taipei in November 2019.
Financial Opportunities Fair aims:
- to organize Fair of Funds/Programs that provide grants/programs to support women-led SMEs (grants and programs should be open to applicants from any APEC economy)
- to network representatives of Funds/Associations/communities and women-led SMEs
- to hold a workshop on where and how to search for such Funds/Programs, what kinds of projects could apply and how to apply.
The Fair will allow meeting the Funds’ representatives and applying to get funding support for promising small and medium business projects. No participants of the event will stay aside, so it’s definitely worth coming to Russia this summer. Besides, the Fair is a non-commercial event with free participation.
The event held in Tomsk is to be visited by 11 (at least!) economies of APEC. Participants will have an opportunity to build business relationship with potential partners, attract new foreign clients and get funding support. Special attention will be paid to business led by women.
International funding programs and the opportunity to apply for getting grant support at the APEC event is a significant milestone for women-led SMEs of the region.
For more than a year, we have been holding local events for exporters here in Tomsk, and the upcoming APEC meeting will definitely become one of the greatest events in 2019. Stay tuned, we will announce the date and venue of the APEC Financial Opportunities Fair soon.
We work regularly with Lingvista and we definitely recommend it!
