NextGen Day

Micro, small, and medium companies (MSMEs) in Southeast Asian countries can use a business-matching platform to assist them to find new clients, suppliers, and events where they can demonstrate their products and technologies for free.

According to a news release issued on Sunday, the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (Asean Access MATCH), a virtual matchmaking platform that allows businesses in the region and beyond to participate in live market information events and book cross-border matchmaking meetings, has officially launched.

MSMEs’ success, according to Reinhold Elges, country director of GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) Thailand, is critical to the region’s economic progress.

“However, when it comes to international trade, one of the most significant challenges that firms, particularly SMEs, confront is the necessity to establish new and relevant business contacts.” “This is where the public and private business support community can make a difference,” he remarked at the platform’s debut on January 25.

The Deutsche GIZ promotes the development of ASEAN Access by implementing initiatives and activities on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Elges stated in the ASEAN Access MATCH that public and private event organizers can host an unlimited number of matchmaking events for an unlimited duration.

“We’ve discovered that connecting virtually online allows us to be more productive and achieve more by minimizing the time and cost of meeting a potential client or new supplier.” “MATCH makes business matchmaking accessible to anyone,” he explained.

Elges noted that registered members of ASEAN Access can market their products and innovations for free on the platform in addition to displaying them at events.

The portal, according to Associate Professor Dr. Veerapong Malai, director-general of Thailand’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion, includes country information and major sectors, allowing users to apply business insights to find opportunities and trends.

Beyond legislative hurdles to trading goods and services, MSMEs face other challenges such as limited access to information and distribution channels, according to Dato Suriani binti Dato Ahmad, chair of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSMEs.

“It goes without saying that having access to distribution networks is critical for organizations, especially when it comes to diversifying (their) consumer base domestically or worldwide,” he said.

According to Ahmad, the Committee has been forming collaborations with economic players in ASEAN member nations, including as agencies and enablers, chambers of commerce, and industrial groups, with the goal of forming regional ties with international organizations.

“By assisting MSMEs and other firms through ASEAN Access and ASEAN Access MATCH, these network partners will considerably contribute to driving the expansion of international trade in the area,” he added.

The business has resumed in the region, according to Satvinder Singh, deputy secretary-general of the Asean Economic Community, since vaccination rates in Asean cities have reached 70%.

According to Singh, the Asian Development Bank expects Southeast Asian economies to rise by 5.1 percent in 2022, up from 3 percent last year.

He also mentioned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which took effect in the first week of January.

According to Singh, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade deal uniting Asean and major nations, is projected to spur regional trade and investment growth while also bolstering the resilience of supply networks among signatory countries.

“As a result, we all believe the launch of the ASEAN Access MATCH could not have come at a better moment,” he added. “Today, our firms must consider more than simply their own economies. They must keep their eyes peeled, globalize, and internationalize.”

As a result, Singh encouraged ASEAN MSMEs to use the platform as one of their “must-have” tools for internationalization when looking for new markets throughout the world.

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