Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) were the saviours of the Indonesian economy out of the 1998 financial crisis. But now, MSMEs are collapsing in times of crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.MSMEs are one of the sectors severely affected by the social restriction policies implemented by the government.
The vice-president and managing director of Sage Asia, Arlene Wherrett, was recently reported to have said in an interview with Bernama that “Despite the high level of awareness on the importance of digital adaptation in businesses, small-medium enterprises (SMEs) are still complacent in moving up or upskilling their workforce to adopt automation”.
Over the weekend, the second ASEAN Lifestyle Week 2019 (ALW2019) was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia to showcase the best that ASEAN small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have to offer in the lifestyle sector. Organised by Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia (Penyayang), ALW2019 had exhibitors from across the region comprised of businesses from different sectors.
Globally, women still struggle to reach top leadership positions and are also less likely to become entrepreneurs.
The millennial generation of Southeast Asia comprises of half of the region’s 644 million population. The region’s high internet penetration and growing middle class is driving the adoption of digital financial services.
While many large companies in ASEAN are piloting Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) initiatives in manufacturing, few small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have managed to integrate them in their processes successfully. Industry 4.0 manufacturing can be defined as the integration of internet-enabled technologies which allow networking in the production process.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore have been hailed as the driving force behind the island nation’s economy. The government there has pointed out that SMEs make up 99 percent of all enterprises in the country and employ as many as 65 percent of Singapore’s workforce.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore have been hailed as the driving force behind the country’s economy. The government pointed out that they make up 99 percent of all enterprises in the country and employ as many as 65 percent of the country’s workforce.
Collectively, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is ranked third in terms of population, sixth in gross domestic product (GDP) and fourth in trade value. In the recently concluded ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting, it was announced that the combined GDP of the association reached US$2.8 trillion in 2017, a 5.3 percent growth year-on-year, up from 4.8 percent in 2016. Growth is expected to remain stable at around 5.2 percent in 2018 and 2019.
Negotiators of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have, for the past six years, weathered many rounds of negotiations and ministerial meetings but the trade deal still hasn’t come to fruition.
Indonesia’s e-commerce market is targeted to grow from 19 billion dollars in 2016 to 130 billion dollars in 2020, according to data obtained from Indonesia’s ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry. This puts Indonesia ahead in terms of digital economy growth against its other ASEAN counterparts – with a year-on-year growth of 51 percent. Indonesia’s growing digital economy is riding on its fast-growing usage of smartphones – which amounted to 71 million users in 2016.
