UNITAR CIFAL Jeju and UNIDO ITPO Korea

Hybrid Workshop

Accelerating SMEs and Startups’ Digitalization Through Public-Private Partnership 

for an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development

22 – 24 June 2022 – Centre International de Formation des Autorites et Leaders Jeju (CIFAL Jeju) organized a hybrid workshop on “Accelerating SMEs and Startups’ Digitalization Through Public-Private Partnership For an Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development” in cooperation with United Nations Industrial Development Organization(UNIDO) Investment and Technology Promotion in Korea(ITPO Korea). The workshop invited 92 participants from 28 countries, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, The United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The three-day workshop was composed of (1)seven experts’ lectures, (2) two country case presentations, (3) group activities on the Public-Private Partnership(PPP) model, and (4) a field visit to Jeju island. The first session featured four invited experts, Mr. Arndt Husar, Senior Public Management Specialist of Digital Transformation of Asian Development Bank(ADB), Dr. Sandrine Kergroach, Head of SME and Entrepreneurship Performance, Policies and Mainstreaming, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), Ms. Chloe YoungEun Lee, Public Sector Partner Development Manager, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Mr. Dmitry Syvolap, COO of upSWOT, fintech startup. The speakers covered issues including digital transformation strategies for SMEs, and digital technology ecosystem for entrepreneurship, and successful PPP cases initiated by local governments and large firms.

On the following day, three invited experts, Ms. Mingwi Jang, Senior Researcher of International Cooperation Team for Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Agency (KISTA), Mr. Sehoon Gihm, CEO of Awexomeray, and Dr. Hyun Song Jang, Director of Collaborative Business Division for Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs(TIPA), delivered with a special focus on global business partnership and governments programs for intellectural property and global technology exchange between Korea and Asian countries.

In addition, representing diplomats of the embassies of Bangladesh and Indonesia presented their country case studies on national policies and strategies for SMEs and startups’ digital technology development. Aligned with the case studies, participants advanced to discuss five country cases to develop key recommendations for PPP strategies in specific country contexts. Group discussions and presentations were conducted in an interactive way among participants who were present at the venue and virtually joined. On the last day of the workshop, UNITAR CIFAL Jeju organized a 1-day field trip to the Electric vehicle R&D Center and Kakao Headquarters which is one of the biggest internet companies in Korea to share good practices.

In particular, the event is evaluated as a meaningful initiative for the first-ever opportunity for representing diplomats of trade, economy and industry of Embassies from the Asia Pacific region and Korean CEOs of SMEs and Startups to get together, and served as a rare platform for them to discuss future public-private partnership opportunities.

*UNITAR CIFAL Jeju has produced a video for the workshop on Accelerating SMEs and Startups’ Digitalization Through Public-Private Partnership – Watch here

[ANNEX1] Digital Book of Speakers’ Presentations Download Here