SINGAPORE, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Leaders of the Pacific Rim countries pledged on Sunday to provide support for the 'most vulnerable' in their economies and also measures to stimulate small and medium business.
"We will consider income supplements or earned income tax credits that encourage work and enterprise," the 21 leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said in their joint declaration at the end of their two-day summit in Singapore.
The leaders said measures would be taken to support and develop small and medium business, which accounted for more than 90% of all businesses in the APEC region and employed between 50% and 80% of the workforce.
"We will assist SMEs [small and medium businesses] to gain better access to global markets, technology and finance as well as to improve their crisis management capabilities," the statement said.
The APEC leaders also agreed to improve the quality of education and skills-training to enhance long-term economic security and also "to design social safety nets that provide short-term economic security but avoid long-term dependency."
