Singapore/Jakarta, 26 October 2023 – The ASEAN Foundation together with TikTok and SAP are proud to announce the successful completion of the Regional Workshop for ASEAN Social Enterprise Development Programme (ASEAN SEDP) 2.0 under the topic of “Empowering Social Enterprise to Drive Meaningful Change in ASEAN.” The event took place in Singapore from 17 to 20 October 2023, in conjunction with the 16th ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME). During the workshop, 3 exceptional social enterprises were awarded grants totalling 30,000 USD to bring their innovative social business ideas to life and advance sustainable development goals in the ASEAN region.
The Regional Workshop featured a dynamic program that included a Demo Day and Business Matchmaking sessions, connecting visionary social entrepreneurs with potential investors, including venture capitalists and angel investors. Additionally, the workshop played host to insightful roundtable discussions and a networking dinner with ACCMSME delegates, providing participants with a platform to establish meaningful relationships, articulate their aspirations, and showcase their promising initiatives to ASEAN policymakers. The grant winners were Survival Skills Vietnam from Vietnam in the first place, Tulibot from Indonesia in the second place and Beebag from Malaysia in the third place.
“We are excited to announce the seed grant winners today, and we look forward to witnessing their growth and contribution to sustainability across the region. The Regional Workshop offers an invaluable opportunity for these social entrepreneurs to gain exposure to potential investors, actively participate in regional conversations, and network with influential policymakers across ASEAN. We are confident that all the participating social enterprises will harness the knowledge they have acquired during the programme and continue to thrive,” said Dr. Piti Srisangnam, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation.
The ASEAN Foundation, in collaboration with TikTok and SAP, has successfully implemented the ASEAN SEDP 2.0 to empower social enterprises across the ASEAN region. The programme focuses on promoting productivity, technology, and innovation, increasing access to finance, enhancing market access and internationalisation, and fostering entrepreneurship and human capital development.
After a rigorous selection process involving 145 applicants, 20 outstanding social enterprises from ten ASEAN member countries were chosen to participate in the programme: Big BWN Project (Brunei Darussalam); ADSA Cambodia (Cambodia); Komerce, PetaNetra, PT. Disabilitas Kerja Indonesia, and Tulibot (Indonesia); Cofarm – Farm for Local (Lao PDR); Beebag, Native Discovery, PichaEats (Malaysia); CC Educare Myanmar, Taungthutada, TTTD – Farmers’ Bridge (Myanmar); Recyglo Singapore (Singapore); Lukthamdai, Moreloop, and PakDone (Thailand); Hinablon sa Cebu and Mayani (The Philippines); and Survival Skills Vietnam and Tohe Social Enterprise (Viet Nam).
The selected social enterprises benefited from 15 customised virtual training and mentoring sessions tailored to their specific needs. One of these sessions, held in September 2023, focused on TikTok Trust and Safety, offering insights into TikTok’s safety efforts, community guidelines, and user protection measures. Hasnita Taslim, Founder of PT Disabilitas Kerja, said “I am grateful to learn from TikTok’s Trust and Safety (T&S) that TikTok has the strategies and measures in place to ensure users are safe on the platform. As a TikTok user, it gives me great confidence that we are well protected.” Another workshop that TikTok conducted was centred around content creation strategy, where social enterprises were equipped with skills and techniques to meaningfully connect, grow and mobilise their audience in an authentic way.
“TikTok is proud to partner with the ASEAN Foundation to meaningfully empower social enterprises across Southeast Asia to advance inclusive economic growth and drive meaningful change in their communities. We believe that a collective partnership, involving governments, non-profits and private sector partners, can enable the next generation of entrepreneurs to grow and thrive,” said Jerry Lewis Ong, Social Impact APAC, TikTok.
As the strategic collaboration between the ASEAN Foundation and SAP continues with this programme, it aims to empower youth-led social enterprises and young talents in the ASEAN region by equipping them with essential skills to build a future-ready workforce and encouraging young social entrepreneurs to discover innovative solutions that deliver inclusive economic benefits across the region. SAP also conducted training for the selected social entrepreneurs with the themes ”Powerful Collaborations: Enhancing Impact through Partnership” and “SAP 4HANA for Small and Medium businesses” in the past week.
Lu Hongwei, Regional CSR Director, East Asia, Pacific & Greater China, SAP, said “We are committed to nurturing social entrepreneurs poised to drive meaningful regional and global change. With the knowledge acquired from our program and the ongoing support of mentorship and access to our corporate supplier networks, we firmly believe in the profound impact they will achieve.”
[Singapore:] One of the selected social enterprises is Recyglo Singapore, a Singapore-based sustainability platform that provides businesses and individuals with closed-loop waste management solutions with presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. Following their motto of ‘Making the world a cleaner place’, their mission is to process material in a safe, non-hazardous manner that avoids environmental harm.
[Indonesia:] The programme showcases four outstanding Indonesian social enterprises that exemplify the spirit of innovation and inclusivity while making a significant impact in their communities and beyond:
- Komerce: This innovative platform harnesses the e-commerce skills of rural youths, enabling them to be matched with Small and Medium Enterprises and earn income without leaving their hometown.
- PetaNetra: PetaNetra is a mobile app that becomes companion for the blind to navigate independently in indoor public spaces using Augmented Reality.
- PT. Disabilitas Kerja Indonesia: This organization specialise in employment solutions and disability-focused recruitment services, serving both businesses and governmental agencies.
- Tulibot: Tulibot is a smart glasses company dedicated to individuals with hearing disabilities. Their speech-to-text solutions and innovative smart glasses provide essential tools for communication and accessibility.
The Regional Workshop was attended by ACCMSME-Nominated Officials, Mr. Tham Jierong, Assistant CEO and Head, Venture Building, raiSE, Singapore; Ms. Joanne Tan, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Capability Programmes & Planning Group, Enterprise Singapore; Mr. M. Reza Guntara, Expert Planner, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Indonesia.