The Institute focuses its energies on activities that help educate and build the capacity and knowledge base of partners and stakeholders throughout Southeast Asia and serves as an important collective voice, amplifying the impact of U.S. companies’ contributions and dedication. The Institute also telegraphs the basic values that U.S. companies share and is prepared to support:
- Humanitarian activities and community engagement to help improve the lives of people in ASEAN where the Council’s companies work
- Programs to preserve and expand knowledge about the rich cultural and art heritage of the region among audiences in the United States and of America in ASEAN
- Other initiatives in the fields of education, governance and rule of law, health, the environment, trade, commerce and investment.
Our SME Program
In 2011, the US-ASEAN Business Council Institute (US-ABCI) established a capacity-building program to empower ASEAN Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in response to a request by the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM). US-ABC and its members are committed to supporting ASEAN SMEs' competitiveness in business skills, digital skills, and facilitating regional trade through this SME Program. More than 20,000 SMEs across all ten ASEAN Member States (AMS) have benefitted from the training program thus far.
In addition to the capacity-building program, US-ABCI launched the ASEAN SME Academy (the Academy) in 2016. The Academy is an online learning platform which is a joint initiative between US-ABC, USAID and the ASEAN Coordinating Committee for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME). As an official ASEAN platform, the Academy is co-administered by US-ABCI, the Bureau of SME Development, Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (BSMED- DTI) and the Philippines Trade and Training Centre (PTTC).
After 10 years of managing the SME Program, US-ABCI will continue and strengthen its efforts to build their capacity as the digital economy grows. In April 2022, US-ABCI has relaunched the ASEAN SME Academy 2.0 and merge it with the live training events that have run separately until now. The main near-term goal is to upgrade and expand the reach of the ASEAN SME Academy as part of US-ABCI’s commitment to support ASEAN in accelerating its comprehensive recovery and advancing a thriving economy, especially after the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives
- Enhance the ASEAN SMEs’ capability to become more competitive in domestic markets, regional, and global markets.
- Support the efforts of high-performance SMEs to become regional business leaders and world-class suppliers in the global value chain.
- Improve accessibility and enhance ASEAN SMEs’ learning experience through one centralized platform and supporting program.
