Publication database

This Roadmap for the Small and Growing Business (SGB) Sector outlines the expected transformations in the sector over the next ten years, and the challenges and opportunities inherent to such change. It includes a set of 13 recommendationsthat, if adopted, can help sector support organizations focus resources, initiate momentum-building, “catalytic” actions, and mitigate inherent challenges from both within and outside the sector. The Roadmap is meant to provide high-level strategic direction to sector support organizations engaged in strategic or program planning and seeking additional perspective on where to invest time, effort, and resources to advance the promise of SGBs.

The report proposes a framework of synergistic elements necessary to advance inclusion, empowerment and equality. It provides evidence that promoting empowerment and inclusion are necessary approaches to reduce inequality and accelerate progress towards a broad array of Sustainable Development Goals. It draws out policy messages on how an empowerment-and-inclusion approach to policymaking can be fostered.

To boost agricultural development in developing countries, donors are increasingly resorting to blended finance: the practice of combining public development funds with private resources. Blended finance may open opportunities to inject more resources into the food and agriculture sector, but the assumptions that blended finance is inherently beneficial for agricultural development and that it is an efficient way to finance smallholder agriculture, are not supported by the evidence currently available.

This paper argues that private finance blending should be used with caution in rural development until donors can demonstrate the merits of blending using evidence-based results, in particular the added value of blending for development impact. This is especially important given the obligations of donors to make progress on the reduction of social, economic and gender inequalities. The increasing focus on private finance should not obscure the vital role of public finance in promoting inclusive agricultural transformation that benefits small-scale farmers.

This study by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) delves into the transformative potential of postal networks into well-suited providers of insurance. The report concludes by presenting three types of business models in which postal insurance can help advancing financial inclusion through insurance access.

This 2019 edition of Africa’s Development Dynamics explores policies for productive transformation in Africa. It proposes three main policy focus for transforming firms: providing business services to clusters of firms; developing regional production networks; and improving exporting firms’ ability to thrive in fast-changing markets.

While APEC strongly recognises the full potential and contributions of women, reports show that women continue to face many barriers to full and productive participation in various sectors and industries. Thus, the Philippines led the conceptualisation and implementation of the project, Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Business, which looked into the broader aspect of inclusive business both in theory and in practice, and its effects on women’s economic empowerment through a survey, documentary reviews, and a seminar-workshop to compile success stories and best endeavours of APEC member economies.

The ASEAN Integration Report is a flagship publication of the ASEAN Integration Monitoring Directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat and is published periodically. The 2019 edition provides a comprehensive assessment of progress and achievements in ASEAN economic integration since the adoption of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 in 2015. Chapter 3 references inclusive business as a key approach to achieve "a resilient, inclusive, people-oriented, and people-centred ASEAN".

In 2017, the Government of the Philippines chaired ASEAN, and made inclusive business (IB) one of its deliverables toward the ASEAN vision of a region that is “outward-looking, living in peace, stability, and prosperity, bonded in partnership in dynamic development, and in a community of caring societies.” This study, addressed to policymakers of ASEAN and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, describes the markets for IB in ASEAN economies, and recommends further actions by ASEAN, the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, and ASEAN members to promote IB.

Background information on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.