ASEAN Women in E-Commerce Roundtable Series

In April 2019, the Global Innovation Forum hosted a series of roundtable events in ASEAN in partnership with UPS to build upon the report we published last year on New Faces of Trade: ASEAN Women in E-Commerce. Women small business owners and entrepreneurs joined in conversations about the opportunities in global markets, the challenges they face, and the role of government policies, programs and digital tools in helping them succeed. Roundtable discussions were held in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

ABOUT THE EVENTS

SINGAPORE

On April 23 the Global Innovation Forum, UPS and the Asia Pacific MSME Coalition hosted a private roundtable discussion to explore supporting women-owned and operated small businesses and global e-commerce in Singapore. Discussants include representatives from: GIF // UPS // AMTC // Ashleigh Ivory // The Art Faculty // Ally’s Basket // Shiokfarm // Event Asia One // Shopmatic // Parcel Perform // Dagiz // U2U  Systems // Ghim Li // Promo2China // Bizzi.co

INDONESIA

On April 25 the Global Innovation Forum, UPS and the US-ASEAN Business Council hosted a private roundtable discussion in Jakarta to explore supporting women-owned and operated small businesses and global e-commerce in Indonesia. Discussants included representatives from: GIF // UPS // USABC // Facebook // APEC Business Advisory Council // ASEAN Secretariat // Indonesia Business Womens Association // Ministry of Trade Republic of Indonesia // Chilibags // HijUp // Sintesa Group // KADIN

MALAYSIA

On April 26, the Global Innovation Forum, UPS and SME Corp hosted a private roundtable discussion at HelloHERA Hub in Kuala Lumpur to explore supporting women-owned and operated small businesses and global e-commerce in Malaysia. Discussants included representatives from: GIF // UPS // SME Corp // U.S. Embassy Malaysia // HelloHERA Hub // Batik Boutique // Happy Bunch // Earth Heir // Frankitas // AVANA

PHILIPPINES

On April 29, the Global Innovation Forum, UPS and GREAT Women in ASEAN hosted a private roundtable discussion in Manila to explore supporting women-owned and operated small businesses and global e-commerce in the Philippines. Discussants included representatives from: GIF // UPS // GREAT Women in ASEAN // Philippine Coffee Board // Philippine Women’s Economic Network // Dezynspace // QPELA // eCFulfill // 1Export

VIETNAM

On April 26, the Global Innovation Forum, UPS and Startup Vietnam Foundation hosted a private roundtable discussion in Ho Chi Minh City to explore supporting women-owned and operated small businesses and global e-commerce in Vietnam. Discussants included representatives from: GIF // UPS // Startup Vietnam Foundation // U.S. Consulate HCMC // Bobi Craft // Triip.me // Hinrich Foundation // Smiley Mushroom

What Participants Had to Say…

For us the small business sector is significant, it represents approximately 96 percent of all businesses across the globe. They are the engine of every community. If you empower women to start a small business, that’s where families get fed, women get confidence, get stronger and it’s a huge opportunity. We want to lift small businesses globally through collaboration, because we see that when SMEs collaborate, they grow faster and further and it doesn’t take capital – which is a big struggle for most small businesses.

Miriam Feiler, Bizzi.co

We are focusing on the Asia Pacific region. Most importantly right now we are trying to understand the payment gateways – there are so many in the market right now. We are facing challenges in terms of how to integrate these particular payment gateways and ensuring that we can receive orders on our e-commerce platform from different countries. China has a payment gateway and the West has a different payment gateway and sometimes we find that they do not integrate.

Cassiopea Yap, Ashleigh Ivory

I really believe the Asian market is huge and it is a huge opportunity for us. We started exporting mostly, so our turnover every year used to be 90 percent export and 10 percent domestic, but since last year it shifted to 70 percent export and 30 percent for the domestic market and for this year we are hoping to do 60 – 40. We are trying to expand in our domestic market as well because I believe with the improving standard of living, people can afford to buy more and more. 

Thuy Nguyen, Bobi Craft

We started global from Day 1. We take advantage of technology to expand our market as fast as we can. We started 4.5 years ago and up to now from the local experience side we are now in 100 countries.

Ha Lam, Triip.me