Asia's small and medium businesses are facing a financing problem that may run deeper than a shortage of capital. AVPN, which describes itself as Asia’s largest social investing network, brings together investors, philanthropies, governments and other development stakeholders to channel capital and resources towards social and development priorities across Asia. In an interaction with The Economic Times Digital, Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO, AVPN, discusses the financing and skilling gaps facing MSMEs, the role of AI and blended capital, and why she believes coordination, rather than capital alone, will determine how effectively Asia addresses its development needs. Edited excerpts:
ET: Around 96% of businesses across Asia Pacific are micro, small and medium enterprises, yet they remain the least served by formal capital and skilling systems. In your reading, is the binding constraint access to finance, or is it something further upstream, like capability and market linkage?
