Paris, 3-4 February 2021: ERIA participated in the second D4SME (Digital for SMEs) Roundtable, the flagship event of the OECD Digital 4 SME Initiative, led by the OECD Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities to discuss challenges and opportunities for SMEs to go digital. ERIA has taken part in this initiative since its establishment.

Mr Koji Hachiyama, Chief Operating Officer of ERIA, represented ERIA at the second  OECD D4SME Roundtable: SME Digitalisation and responses to COVID-19, following his participation to the first one in November 2019.

The event was opened by the OECD Secretary-General, Mr Angel Gurria, who discussed the important role that governments around the world have to play in supporting SMEs during the post-pandemic recovery. Minister Hon Stuart Nash of New Zealand, Minister for Economic and Regional Development, Forestry, Small Business and Tourism, and Chair of the OECD Digital for SMEs Initiative, gave welcome remarks. He was followed by remarks from Minister Robert Troy of Ireland, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation and Minister Alain Griset of France, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery in charge of Small and Medium Enterprises.

Mr Koji Hachiyama intervened in Session I on SMEs moving online: the digital presence, e-commerce and digital security risks. Mr Hachiyama discussed on-going ERIA research about the assessment of cybersecurity risks in ASEAN countries using indicators such as open services, e-mail infrastructure and routing infrastructure. ERIA research shows that a majority of ASEAN SMEs are not equipped to face cybersecurity risks and these risks are increasing given the fast growth of the digital economy and e-commerce across ASEAN. Countermeasures to limit these risks are key to safeguarding the online expansion of SMEs.  Public-private partnerships to develop guidance and support in the area of cybersecurity with a focus on MSMEs need to be strengthened across ASEAN. The session was chaired by NZ Minister Stuart Nash who expressed interest in cybersecurity developments across ASEAN and in Japan.