Asian agriculture grew significantly during the past decades due not only to the introduction of modem agricultural technologies but also to the undertaking of structural reforms that basically tried to correct what were then policy biases affecting the performance of the agriculture sector. These reforms, essentially entailing the formulation of more market­ oriented policies, have resulted to some degree in overall improvement in the efficiency of the sector. Recent developments, however, particularly the GA TTIWTO negotiations that led to the adoption of trade-enhancing measures, have presented difficult challenges to many developing countries in the region. Specifically, the agriculture sector of those countries is now being required to become more efficient in an environment of reduced protection and increasing competition in world markets.

Many of those countries have already initiated programs aimed at improving the competitiveness of their agriculture sector. For example, efforts are currently being made to improve the quality of agricultural products and to enhance the efficiency of production processes. There is, however, a need for broader initiatives in this regard, such as the adoption of more innovative approaches that would enable agriculture to develop stronger linkages with other sectors of the economy.

To review the agricultural performance of member countries in recent years, particularly in light of the increasing trends of globalization and liberalization of trade, and to identify relevant policy measures for further improving the competitiveness of the agriculture sector in those countries, the APO organized the Study Meeting on Agricultural Policy Towards More Competitive Economies in 2000. The present volume is a compilation of the papers and proceedings of the study meeting. I hope that it will provide useful reference material for planners and policy-makers in member countries.

Information technology (IT) has had dramatic impacts not only on the development of IT ­related industries but also on the rationalization and efficiency of established businesses. This has also resulted in new changes among consumers as they now have easy access to a wide range of information over the Internet. Because IT has had considerable influence on national socio-economic systems, no firm can escape the impact generated by the IT Revolution. Further, the speed of the revolution has been so rapid that new changes can take place anytime and anywhere, and hence the conventional methods and mindsets prevalent in businesses may lose their significance.

If the introduction and application of IT (hereafter referred to as informatization) are closely linked to economic development of a country, SMEs should be the primary sector for initiation in light of their important position in the national economy. As informatizaion makes it possible for SMEs to collect, accumulate, and utilize as much information as possible, they have a level playing field vis-a.-vis large firms in terms of responding quickly to the needs of customers and achieving higher efficiency in production and marketing. This will lead to increased labor productivity, sales, and profits by expanding business opportunities beyond their locality and even beyond national boundaries.

Whether informatization should be applied to upgrade present business operations or introduced for future strategic management needs careful examination, particularly for SMEs. Some experts suggest that unless small entrepreneurs have sufficient confidence that informatization will definitely improve the firm's competitiveness and productivity, they should concentrate on the improvement and upgrading of current systems. This is due largely to the inherent resource constraints of SMEs in finance, marketing, technology, and manpower.

More importantly, many previous studies have revealed that their understanding of informatization was not as complete as that of large firms in terms of its contribution to the cost-effectiveness of investment in IT and the business areas for which it is relevant.

Keeping the above background in view, the APO conducted a fact-finding survey on informatization in 12 member countries during 2001 and 2002. One of the important findings derived from the survey was that Asian SMEs actively use and apply IT in daily operations but that they had a long way to go before application in strategic management. This publication contains an integrated summary report prepared by the chief expert, along with country survey reports. We trust that this publication will be useful particularly to small entrepreneurs who are keen to improve their business operations through informatization.

The APO co-organized the Study Meeting on Creative Entrepreneurship in Taipei,

ROC, 18–21 May 2004, with the China Productivity Center. Since its inception in 1961, the APO has consistently placed great importance on the productivity and quality improvement programs and activities of its member countries. Small and medium enterprise (SME) development constitutes one of the APO’s thrust areas, and one key aspect of SME development is the fostering of entrepreneurs.

The study meeting, with the theme “Creative Entrepreneurship” was a timely event.

Entrepreneurs often create significant breakthroughs and bold innovations in all fields of business. Entrepreneurial organizations similarly create new value and contribute to the economic growth of nations. The study meeting offered a valuable opportunity to examine not only creative entrepreneurship in SMEs but also in large corporations and how to foster creative entrepreneurs in the business sector.

This volume is a compilation of the papers and views presented at the study meeting.

The APO greatly appreciates the efforts of Professor Tan in editing this volume. We hope that the contents will provide information on policies, best practices, and current developments that will be of use to policymakers, entrepreneurs, and enterprises engaged in fostering creative entrepreneurship.

Access to information technology (IT) and the Internet and the ability to use them effectively are becoming important to economic, political, and social life of all people. Among others, IT has an important bearing on productivity and competitiveness of industrial sectors. In reality, however, an undesirable polarization has already emerged between countries, regions, industries and people that have successfully coped with digital economy and those that have not. While IT has been gathering a dynamic momentum in APO member countries, the digital divide stymies against the sound development of local communities, manpower, and national economies.

The IT Charter adopted at the Summit Meeting of Heads of Nations which was held in Japan in July 2000 has paid particular attention to a growing gap between those with access to IT and those without. Both public and private efforts have been stepped up towards this direction. For example, the e-ASEAN is a regional initiative to rectify the digital divide through the development of IT -related infrastructure, both technical and social. As IT ignores national borders and business activities are increasingly globalized, it is important to work out the framework and programs on the digital divide through cooperation and coordination among member countries.

Keeping the above background in view, the APO conducted a survey in 2001 to study the nature and magnitude of the digital divide prevailing among APO member countries with a view towards evolving policies and measures to cope with it.

This publication highlights the results of the survey in six countries: India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The respective country reports presents the current status of IT Infrastructure, the status of digital divide at the national level, IT related policies, capacity building, roles of government and private sector, international cooperation and offers recommendations based on the findings and conclusions. The integrated summary provides an analysis of the current situation of digital divide in Asia, the varying IT strategies and policies adopted by governments and discuss policy implications towards addressing digital divide.

We hope that this publication will provide useful information to all those who are directly or indirectly involved in efforts to address the digital divide. The APO would like to express its sincere appreciation to all the national experts, the Chief Experts and all those who participated in the survey and contributed to this publication.

The cooperation between France and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO)

Initiated in 1986, the cooperation between France and the Asian Productivity Organization started in 1987.The Asian French Cooperation of Productivity (AFCP) was quick to promote this far ­reaching action thanks to the assistance offered by the Foreign Office, the Equipment and Lodging Department, and several French companies.

The theme "productivity in urban services" invited the new Institute du Genie Urban of Lyon (INGUL) to conceive and to organize this workshop that presented to officials of 12 Asian countries the considerations and the methods actually used in France for better management of important cities. Naturally, the School of Civil Engineering, where a large number of urban executives have been trained, contributed its cooperation in this event.

The objects of the Asian French Cooperation on Productivity are simple:

1. To meet the needs of Asian members of the APO, as far as productivity is concerned in a large sense.
2. France takes part in training activities by sending experts abroad. The chosen fields correspond to French experiences. The AFCP chooses technical fields concerning the production of industrial property; thus French experts participated in two important APO studies in the field of information technology and biotechnology. Another French desire is the development of services. This is the reason why the meeting concerning urban services took place.

This study meeting should be the beginning of a relationship between the participating experts/officials and French experts and companies. It is hoped that this volume will contribute to the development of the cooperation between Asia and France on mutual interests. For this purpose, the assistance of the APO in Tokyo will be useful in the

In the pursuit of sustainable development, the APO launched its Green Productivity (GP) Program in 1994, in response to the outcomes of the Rio Earth Summit held in 1992, with spe­cial funding from the Government of Japan. The GP Program was formulated based on the concept of harmonizing productivity increases with environmental protection,    leading to sus­tainable socio-economic development.

The first World Conference on Green Productivity in Manila in 1996 adopted the Manila Declaration on GP, which laid a solid foundation by calling for the involvement of all stake­holders in the GP movement as a strategy for achieving competitiveness, environmental protec­tion and social fairness. Subsequently, the GP program has been implemented through a three ­tiered approach, comprising promotion, demonstration, and dissemination. Our experiences in implementing GP through the APO-sponsored demonstration projects have shown that GP works effectively in the industry, agriculture, and service sectors as well as in communities.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg reaffirmed sus­tainable development as a central element on the international agenda and gave new impetus to global action to fight against poverty and protect the environment. As a follow-up to the WSSD, the 2nd World Conference on Green Productivity was organized in Manila in December 2002, which provided a valuable opportunity to review the past achievements of GP endeavors in the region. It also reviewed the current approaches to GP by the APO and identi­fied new challenges, opportunities, and modalities related to future GP activities. Most impor­tantly, the conference identified innovative approaches to enhance GP expertise and practices in the region with the aim of empowering the National Productivity Organizations (NPOs) to serve as the focal point for the promotion and dissemination of GP. I am very pleased to pre­sent the proceedings of this landmark conference.

I sincerely hopes that this publication will be useful to the NPOs and other GP stakeholders in the region in their efforts to promote GP in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asian Productivity Organization has been conducting various activities related to the environment over the past ten years with a view to increasing environmental consciousness and promoting policy, technology and knowledge on the protection and improvement of the environment among its member countries. However, measures taken by factories and farms in the region are often not satisfactory for solving environmental problems in spite of ever-growing awareness on the issue. The reasons for this are probably because conventional waste treatment technologies tend to impose a net cost on industries and thus erode their competitiveness.

Over the last several years, the APO has actively promoted the concept of Green Productivity throughout the region through the forms of demonstration projects, information dissemination, and promotional missions. APO has established partnerships with NPOs and various industrial development organizations around the region.

The APO initiated a research survey in late 1998 to study the state of GP implementation in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan. The specific research goals were to review the existing national efforts to promote GP and GP-related approaches; compile case studies of GP implementation in SMEs and analyze barriers to further adoption of GP practices; and provide recommendations on how to further develop GP in the region.

I am very pleased to present the results of this research. By publishing these survey results, the APO hopes to stimulate further discussion on strategies for GP promotion and dissemination in its member countries.

Since its introduction in 1994, significant development for the advancement of Green Productivity (GP) has taken place. This includes the many demonstration projects, international and regional forums & discussions, workshops and seminars held in many member countries over the last few years. This is possible due to the better and wider acceptability of GP as a holistic approach in tackling environmental issues and problems, whilst not forgetting the very basic of business competitiveness, i.e., higher productivity.  

While various efforts have been put forward by different organizations in handling environmental concerns, such as end-of-pipe treatment, waste minimization, source reduction, eco-efficiency, cleaner production and cleaner technology, APO’s holistic approach in GP seems to provide an all encompassing methodology for the improvement of productivity and the protection of environment. The greatest difference between GP and the other methodologies is the taking into consideration of the one big concern of manufacturers and businessmen, i.e., the synergies and vital relationship between pollution prevention and higher productivity.

We acknowledge that for GP to be successful and sustainable, it has to take a different approach, but at the same time, address the fundamental concerns of business. Hence, GP not only gives great emphasis to waste prevention, but also energy conservation and pollution control. In addition, it has to be a participative approach by the business concern and, therefore, training of employees is also given top priority in GP. In this regard, we are confident that the present publication of a Training Manual in Green Productivity will be useful and a step in the right direction. This manual will not only act as a source of reference materials for the trainers, but also provide the step-by-step methodology for entrepreneurs, especially SMEs, in strengthening their efforts to tackle environmental issues and problems.

While the idea of having a published training manual like this one was in itself considered a milestone at the APO, translating it into a concrete project was a formidable task. We are fortunate to have a team, both within and without the APO, who take great concern in improving the overall approach to environmental issues and have taken up this project as personal commitments.

In light of the 1992 Earth Summit, the APO launched its Special Program for the Environment in 1994 under a special grant from the Japanese government. In an endeavor to find practical and attractive approaches for organizations to deal with both productivity and environmental protection for sustainable development, the APO introduced the concept of Green Productivity (GP).         .

GP is a strategy for enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic development. It is the application of appropriate productivity and environmental management policies and strategies, tools, techniques, and technologies in order to reduce the environmental impact of an organization's activities.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an emerging environmental management tool for decision-makers. LCA integrates all the environmental problems encountered during the entire life cycle of a product. It relies on scientific data and is a quantitative tool. LCA is designed to provide the most objective information possible to support the decision-making process.

LCA is found to be an excellent management tool within the GP framework. By adopting a life-cycle perspective in GP implementation, one can ensure that the improvements envisaged do not result in shifting the environmental and productivity problems from one stage/form/location in the life cycle of the product to the other. It is therefore a very powerful tool in ensuring effective GP implementation in the long run.

Considering the importance of LCA in the GP framework, the APO launched a survey of current LCA practices in selected member countries. I am happy to present this compilation of the case studies on current LCA practices in APO member countries, especially since this is the first such compilation in the Asian region.

The contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which comprise the bulk of sup­porting industry, to the economic growth of Asian countries has long been recognized by gov­ernment policy makers. This is why national programs have been implemented and support institutions established to speed up the development of SMEs. Factors in the current business environment, such as globalization, trade liberalization, and increasing competition, have com­pelled developing countries in particular to do more to assist this sector.

Recent world economic developments have created opportunities and challenges. For example, the growth of foreign direct investment in developing countries has not been matched by the growth of local small industries capable of supporting multinationals or foreign firms with the materials, parts, components, or support services that they need. Thus foreign investors rely on imports of parts and components from their home base or they request their affiliated foreign suppliers to invest directly in the developing country in which they operate. Consequently, the investor's competitiveness and the host country's trade balance are adverse­ly affected.

It is from this viewpoint that the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) organized the Workshop on Managerial and Entrepreneurship Development for Supporting Industry, held in the Philippines, 13-24 November 2000. The workshop was one of the activities being pursued by the APO to promote the development of supporting industry particularly that in less-devel­oped member countries.

This publication features a summary of the workshop, the highlights from presentations by resource speakers, country papers presented by participants, and discussion sessions as well as outlines of plant visits. The APO would like to thank the Productivity and Development Center - Development Academy of the Philippines and all the individuals and institutions who extend­ed assistance and support during the implementation of the workshop. It is hoped that this publication will contribute to national and regional efforts to strengthen the supporting indus­tries that are vital to socio-economic advancement, especially of developing countries.

We are now in the knowledge-based economy which inevitably calls for highly educated and trained specialists, engineers, and technicians as manpower sources. Largely because of this new economic setting, problems of mismatch in the labor market have emerged. Take, for example, Japan. During the 1990s, the IT revolution generated more than 2 million new jobs. Although the recent unemployment rate remains as high as 4.6% to 4.7%, the demand for qualified manpower in the IT industry continues. In spite of this, the rate of meeting this demand has been far from satisfactory. The mismatch is due largely to the lack of necessary IT skills possessed by middle-aged and elderly workers. It is difficult to reduce the unemployment rate by simply shifting workers from one sector to another. In one sense, this is unavoidable as human resources development is a time-consuming process and the education, training, and retraining systems are not usually sufficiently flexible to adapt to new industrial circumstances. The matching mechanism of the supply and demand of labor fails to function properly at the national level.

No immediate and uniform solutions are likely to be offered to overcome the problems of labor mismatch as they involve educational policies, social norms, economic levels, wage gaps by educational level, and many other factors. Labor market mismatches occur throughout the world but the situation in the Asian region appears more serious due to the dynamic changes in industrial structure and the rapid development of new technologies such as IT. A better understanding and analysis of the problems relating to labor mismatch may help formulate economic and manpower development policies at the national level and manpower recruitment and human resources development strategies at the industry and corporate levels. Against the above background, the APO undertook a fact-finding survey in collaboration with 11 national experts under the guidance of Professor Hiromitsu Muta of the Tokyo Institute of Technology as the chief expert.

This publication is a compilation of national reports, together with an integrated summary prepared by the chief expert. We trust that it will be useful to all those who are involved in overcoming the problems relating to labor mismatch at the industry and national levels.

The APO has been addressing productivity measurement methodologies and standardization criteria since 1979. Over the years, it has organized many workshops, surveys, symposia and research projects to study and review techniques and approaches within member countries and, just as importantly, provide opportunities for the transfer of skills and technologies that have enabled members to become increasingly proficient in measuring productivity and performance. Where possible the role of standardization has been to facilitate useful comparisons at enterprise, sectoral and national level.

As productivity science has become increasingly integrated and strategic, measurement practitioners are placing more and more emphasis on the use to which measurement results will be put, whilst retaining the measurement precision hard won from earlier technical endeavors. Their approaches have become more pragmatic and oriented towards their clients ­both internal and external - as measures and measurement systems are designed specifically to predict and track the effects of improvement efforts on changes in productivity.

Thus the objective of the APO study meeting held at the Singapore Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING) from 3 to 5 December 2002 was to review the latest trends in sectoral productivity measurement methodologies and the application of measures in developing strategies at both sectoral and enterprise level. The meeting set out to address the design of robust and technically sound measures and measurement systems in such a way that they would capture the interest of decision-makers at all levels.

This volume is a compilation of contributions to, and discussions within, the study meeting. We trust that the publication will be useful to both measurement practitioners at all levels and to those who have responsibility for improving performance.

The food industry in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region is expanding rapidly. In view of the liberalization of global trade and increasing demand by consumers in developed countries not only for economical but also for healthy, tasty, and safe food, the industry is confronted with the challenge of remaining competitive in an international, quality-oriented market where commodities, production areas, and brands compete with each other. Many developing countries in the region, however, have only a few food-exporting enterprises with modern quality assurance and improvement systems in place. Thus processed food products from such countries cannot compete well in the international food market due to the lack of quality assurance, and the products have usually been relegated to lower-end markets or abandoned in some cases.

This situation demands immediate attention to improve the quality perception of the food-processing industry, particularly of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that constitute a large proportion of the industry in the region. This could be achieved by creating awareness among SMEs of modern quality assurance and improvement concepts such as hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP), which has become the internationally recognized system for the management of food safety for all companies involved in the production, processing, storage, and distribution of food for human consumption. In the adoption of HACCP, however, SMEs are confronted with many legal, socioeconomic, and technical issues and challenges. Concerted efforts on the part of all stakeholders are needed to overcome those challenges for the widespread adoption of HACCP and other quality assurance systems by food-processing SMEs.

The APO therefore organized a study meeting on Quality Enhancement in Small and Medium Food-processing Enterprises through HACCP. The objectives were to: review the present status of quality control in the food-processing industry, particularly in SMEs in member countries; assess the perception and awareness levels of modern quality concepts with special reference to HACCP; and identify issues and constraints in, and strategies for, the wider adoption of HACCP. This volume is a compilation of the papers and proceedings of the study meeting. I hope that it will serve as a useful reference on the subject in APO member countries and elsewhere

The past couple of decades have seen rapid changes in the economic environment which have a significant bearing on how SMEs will do business in the immediate future as well as in the longer term. The trend toward globalization, the spread of free trade, and the phasing out of tariff barriers have pitted SMEs against international competitors. The once reassuring environment of the protected domestic market is fast disappearing. At the same time, these changes have opened up tremendous business and market opportunities for SMEs. The liberalization of financial markets has introduced extremely attractive low-cost funding options. Information technology and the rapid growth of electronic commerce have leveled the field for SMEs trying to compete against larger corporations. It is there­fore in the interests of all SME entrepreneurs to identify winning strategies for their par­ticular businesses. It is also government's responsibility to strengthen their capabilities so that they can survive and prosper in the long run.

In light of the above background, the APO conducted a regional survey of SMEs to determine which public support schemes and corporate strategies are likely to be most effective in improving SME productivity and competitiveness in the changing business environment. Surveys on SMEs in Asia are not new but in the past most were limited to the newly industrializing economies and ASEAN. Our survey not only covered those coun­tries and regions but also was extended to a number of South Asian countries.

This publication is a compilation of survey reports prepared by national experts from 14 member countries. We hope that it will offer useful and practical information to all those who are directly or indirectly involved in the development and strengthening of

SMEs.

Technology transfer has long been recognized as one of the key factors in accelerating economic development. In the 1990s, technology transfer is expected to play an increasingly important role in the future growth of firms, especially in the context of growing international competitive pressures.

Many studies in the past on technology transfer at the micro level have laid emphasis on transfer mechanism and process, analyzing how best the technology transferred should be utilized to raise its economic efficiency. Either by design or by accident, these exercises ignored the role of top management, which is a key factor in the final decision on whether to go ahead or not with the technology transfer project. Decision has to be based upon various considerations such as where to find business opportunities, how to form business partnership, how to narrow down the perception gap between the two parties, how to form organization and staffing, and how to mobilize resources. Thus corporate policies and strategies formulated by the top management would directly affect the success or failure of technology transfer projects.

Keeping the above aspects in view, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) undertook a two-year survey to examine the various issues involved in technology assimilation, adaptation and development strategies at the corporate level in cooperation with experts from seven member countries. The survey yielded a number of interesting findings, which are intended to reach a wider audience through this publication. We hope that this volume will be of use to, among others, the policy makers, Asian corporate executives, R&D managers and all those who are directly concerned with technology transfer and development

The APO conducted a two-year intensive study on the construction "industry in 12 APO member countries in 1980-82 under the guidance of a Chief Expert, Mr. A.  Nagabhushana Rau, Joint Managing Director, the Hindustan Construction Co., Ltd., Bombay, India.

The member country of Japan commissioned the study to Professor Yasuyuki Hippoh, Department of Economics, Rissho University, Tokyo, who is a well-known expert in the Japanese construction industry. His contribution proved, as readers wilt find, to be highly valuable because he had successfully revealed a unique and intricate operation system in the construction industry in Japan. It is, therefore, timely to publish his work in the light of the increasing number of international projects which require the understanding of country-specific characteristics involved in the construction industry.

The material in this volume is based upon a comprehensive survey questionnaire drawn up by participating experts. Readers who wish to consult the text of the questionnaire may refer, to a com­panion publication "The Construction Industry in Asia: A Survey", which is an integrated report of the same study published by the APO in April this year.

Along with the transition to the knowledge economy, knowledge workers are assuming increasingly important roles. They constitute an important part of a firm’s intangible assets and form key sources of competitive advantages. The central issue is how to develop appropriate training and education programs and strategies for these knowledge workers so as to attract and retain them, maximize their performance, and thereby enhance the intellectual capital of enterprises as a whole.

The APO launched a survey on “In-company Training Strategies for Knowledge Workers” to examine the situation in the Asia-Pacific region. The survey was launched in August 2002 and its primary objectives were to identify best practices in the training strategies of companies in the region and to define the critical success and hindering factors for dissemination to others. Mr. Enrique V. Abadesco, Jr. from the Philippines led the survey and served as the chief expert. This publication is a compilation of the reports prepared by the national experts participating in the survey. The five countries featured are India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. In each of
these selected countries, knowledge workers are increasing rapidly, in numbers as well as in their contribution to corporate excellence and competitiveness.

In the course of the survey, the national experts visited many companies and met their CEOs and senior management teams to obtain the necessary information and data. I would like to extend our deep appreciation to all these companies and their CEOs for opening their doors to the APO experts. Without their far-sightedness and cooperation in sharing willingly their in-company training practices, the APO could not have carried out this project. I hope that the experiences of the companies included in the present study contain practical lessons that may be emulated and widely replicated among other corporations and organizations in APO member countries.