Paper Title
Empowering SMES in West Sumatera to Improve Regional Competitiveness to Face Asian Economic Community in 2015

Abstract
This research aims to identify the role of related institutions from both governmental and private sectors to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in food industry in West Sumatera to face ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. This research recommended a model to optimize the role of related institutions and designed a model to increase SMEs competitive advantage in order to support regional competitiveness. Keywords- SMEs in food industry, AEC, competitive forces, regional competitiveness