Micro, small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asian countries finding new customers, suppliers, and events where they can showcase their products and technologies for free can use a business matching portal to help them internationalize.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) has officially launched the ASEAN Access Match, a virtual matchmaking platform that allows businesses in ASEAN and beyond to participate in live market information events, and book cross-border matchmaking meetings.
Reinhold Elges, country director of GIZ Thailand, said the success of the MSMEs is vital to economic growth in the region.
“However, when it comes to international trade, one key issue that businesses, especially MSMEs, face is the need to find new and relevant business contacts. This is where the public and private business support community can come in and make a difference,” he said during the launch of the platform.
In the ASEAN Access Match, Elges said public and private event organizers can run an unlimited number of matchmaking events of their choice for an unlimited period of time.
“We have seen that we can all be productive and achieve a lot by connecting virtually online so reducing the time and also the cost to meet a potential client or new supplier. Match makes business matchmaking attainable for everyone,” he said.
Apart from showcasing products and technologies during events, Elges added registered members of ASEAN Access can promote these for free in the platform.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH is a German international development agency which supported the development of the ASEAN Access (https://aseanaccess.com), a “one-stop shop” for ASEAN SMEs who look to do business within the region beyond their country borders.
Associate Professor Dr. Veerapong Malai, director-general of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion in Thailand, said the platform features country information and key sectors, thus users can use business insights in identifying opportunities and trends.
Citing the World Trade Organization, ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSMEs chair YBhg. Dato Suriani binti Dato’ Ahmad said beyond the regulatory barriers to trading goods and services, the additional challenges faced by MSMEs include having limited access to information and distribution channels.
“Needless to say, having access to distribution networks is a crucial component for businesses particularly in diversifying their customer base domestically or internationally,” he said.
Ahmad said the committee has been forging partnerships with economic players in ASEAN member states, including some agencies and enablers, chamber of commerce, and industry associations that aim to establish regional partnerships with international organizations.
“These network partners will greatly contribute to accelerating the growth of international trade in the region by supporting MSMEs and other businesses through ASEAN Access and ASEAN Access Match,” he added.
Satvinder Singh, deputy secretary-general for ASEAN economic community, said businesses in the region have resumed as the vaccination rates in the ASEAN cities have reached 70 percent.
Singh cited Asian Development Bank is forecasting Southeast Asian economies to grow by 5.1 percent in 2022 from three percent it projected last year.
He also highlighted the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which came into force in the first week of January this year.
Singh said RCEP, the largest free trade agreement in the world connecting ASEAN and major economies, is expected to stimulate expansion of regional trade and investments, and further strengthen the resilience of the supply chains among the signatory states.
“Thus we all believe that the launching of the ASEAN Access Match could not have been more timely than now,” he added. “Today, our businesses need to look not just only within their own economies. They need to look out, they need to globalize, they need to internationalize.”
Singh urged ASEAN MSMEs to explore the platform as one of their “must go” tools for their internationalization activities as they look for new markets around the world. – Press release
April 26, 2024
