The Asia SME Finance Monitor 2014 is the knowledge sharing product on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia and the Pacific, specially focusing on SME access to finance. This publication reviews various country aspects of SME finance covering the banking sector, nonbank sector, and capital markets. It is expected to support evidence-based policy making and regulations on SME finance in the region.

Highlights

• Recent global economic slowdown requires a new growth model for Asia, where SMEs play a key role in boosting national productivity;
• Strengthening SME competitiveness is a critical policy agenda, given the anticipated low SME survival rate and liberalized trade and investment;
• Financial infrastructure needs to be developed to expand financial outreach to a larger number of SMEs;
• Basel III may negatively affect bank lending attitudes to SMEs; 
• The nonbank finance industry is small in scale and influenced by bank performance; comprehensive national policy frameworks are lacking;
• Although still in the trial stages, positive performances on SME equity markets and government reform efforts have been seen in Asia; and
• A balanced approach is required to design extensive policy measures for improving SME access to finance, and for safeguarding their financial stability.

Thematic Chapter: Mobile Technology for Financing SMEs in Asia and the Pacific
While mobile technology has been making access to financial services easier, faster, and cheaper for everyone from high-income individuals to even bottom-of-thepyramid households, the SME segment around the world seems to have made minimal use of this new technology for their financial needs. The so-called SME “missing middle” in terms of financial access appears to have mobile financial services missing as well. 

About the Asia SME Finance Monitor 2014
The Asia SME Finance Monitor 2014 is the knowledge sharing product on SMEs in Asia and the Pacific, specially focusing on SME access to finance. The Monitor reviews various country aspects of SME finance covering the banking sector, nonbank sector, and capital markets. It is expected to support evidence-based policy making and regulations on SME finance in the region. With the success of the inaugural volume of the ASM, this edition extends its coverage to review the SME sector and the state of finance in 20 DMCs from the five ADB regions of Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.

Download the full report here.