Press Release

Jakarta, 20 June 2023 – ASEAN Foundation and TikTok announced the launch of ASEAN Social Enterprise Development Programme 2.0 (ASEAN SEDP 2.0), a regional programme that aims to support the development of social enterprise in ASEAN last Thursday (15/06).

The programme will select 20 early-and growth-stage social enterprises from ten ASEAN countries that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, providing them with customised capacity building training, mentorship and coaching, access to market, and networking with ASEAN policy makers and investors.

The ASEAN SEDP 2.0 involves several key activities, such as open recruitment and selection of social enterprises from across ASEAN, curriculum development, mentoring and coaching, and capacity building training, culminating in the Demo Day with the selected 20 social enterprises presenting and pitching their ideas to potential investors. Top-performing social enterprises will have a chance to win seed grants of up to USD 30,000.

“We are thrilled to partner with TikTok to implement ASEAN SEDP 2.0,” said Dr. Piti Srisangnam, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation. “Social enterprises play a vital role in promoting inclusive economic growth and sustainable development in ASEAN. It is our belief that this programme will help unleash the potential of these social entrepreneurs and create a more vibrant social enterprise ecosystem in the region.”

Throughout its implementation, the programme will leverage on ASEAN Foundation’s long track record of catalysing educational growth in the region and TikTok’s commitment to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs as well as the company’s expertise in providing tech-based platforms that can help social enterprises to expand their market presence and sustain their impact in the region.

The ASEAN SEDP 2.0 is built on the success of the first iteration of the programme in 2020, which was instrumental in providing training and mentoring in business skills and financial management, as well as networking opportunities for 20 social enterprises during COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the success stories from the first ASEAN SEDP was from Surplus Indonesia, a social enterprise whose mission is to avoid food waste by connecting food retailers or farms to sell their overstock or imperfect products at half prices to the customers. During the height of the pandemic, Surplus helped Indonesian MSMEs to prevent around $4,000 in losses for business owners who participated in the movement.

“Other than the valuable knowledge and skill about how to run social enterprises business, the most important thing we got from ASEAN SEDP 1.0 was the network with the experts and the rest of the 19 social enterprises from all over ASEAN. ASEAN SEDP was our first milestone to start our journey, scale up our business, and create impact,” said Muhammad Agung Saputra, CEO & Founder of Surplus Indonesia.

The launch of ASEAN SEDP 2.0 was organised as part of the TikTok Southeast Asia Social Impact Forum. The ceremony was marked by a showcasing of partnership announcement documents by the Chair of Board of Trustees of ASEAN Foundation and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN, H.E. Ambassador Heng Sarith and Vice President of Public Policy Emerging Markets and Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of TikTok, Ms. Helena Lersch. The procession was witnessed by CEO of TikTok, Mr. Shou Zi Chew and Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community, H.E. Satvinder Singh.

The launch of ASEAN SEDP 2.0 was also attended by other Members of the Board of Trustees of ASEAN Foundation, such as Permanent Representative of Lao People’s Democratic Republic to ASEAN, H.E. Ambassador Bovonethat Douangchak, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Union of Myanmar to ASEAN; H.E. Ambassador Aung Myo Myint, and Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN, H.E. Ambassador Kok Li Peng .

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About TikTok

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok’s global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and its offices include New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

About the ASEAN Foundation

Three decades after ASEAN was established, ASEAN leaders recognised that: there remained inadequate shared prosperity, ASEAN awareness and contact among the people of ASEAN. It was of this concern that ASEAN leaders established the ASEAN Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia, at ASEAN’s 30th Anniversary Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 15 December 1997. The ASEAN Foundation is an organisation from and for the people of ASEAN. The Foundation exists because of one vision: to build a cohesive and prosperous ASEAN Community. As an ASEAN body, the Foundation is tasked to support ASEAN mainly in promoting awareness, identity, interaction and development of the people of ASEAN.