About the ASEAN SME Academy

What is the ASEAN SME Academy?

In March 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) launched the US-ASEAN Business Alliance for Competitive Small and Medium Enterprises (Business Alliance). This innovative public-private partnership has trained over 7,000 small and medium enterprise (SME) owners utilizing the world-class expertise offered by US-ABC corporate members in areas such as Marketing and Business Management, Finance, Legal, Logistics, and Information Technology. The Business Alliance partners have now also developed an online training tool, the ASEAN SME Academy (Academy), that will reach many more SMEs.

The core of the Academy is a series of training materials for SMEs from Fortune 500 companies. In addition, the Academy incorporates training materials focused on SMEs from regional firms and international organizations. This curated set of courses is part of a larger program to provide training and mentorship to enhance ASEAN SME’s access to financial products, regional and international markets, information and advisory services, and technology and innovation.

The Academy also contains business information that is particularly relevant for regional SMEs, providing access to a curated directory of service providers to whom they can reach out for financial advice, corporate programs, and networking. The Academy provide a calendar of events to give users more information about training from the Business Alliance and business development services in the region. Users of the Academy will develop a user profile when first logging on to facilitate users’ access to materials specific to their industry and links to existing business support. The information and resources will be selectively translated into the local languages to expand the group of firms that can benefit from the Academy.

ASEAN SME Academy & SME Program - Factsheet

In 2011, the US-ASEAN Business Council Institute (USABCI) 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. 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). Read More...

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