Events

Better Local Business Environments for Pandemic Recovery in Southeast Asia

29 June 2022

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Southeast Asian economies, accounting for an average of 97% of all businesses and 69% of the national labor force across the region. However, SMEs face unique challenges as they have limited capital, resources, and staff; short life spans; and poor knowledge about government support.

While small enterprises are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, they are facing new challenges such as inflation, digitalization, rising debts, new trade blocs, and climate change.

This webinar from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) examined how to build a conducive business environment that can help SMEs in Southeast Asia recover from the pandemic.

The webinar built on outcomes and policy dialogue from the Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS) 2022, “Sustainable Solutions for Southeast Asia’s Recovery,” last 16–17 March 2022, and the Provincial Facilitation for Investment and Trade (PROFIT): Measuring Economic Governance for Business Development in the Lao PDR, Second Edition 2022 report released on 31 March.

Program and Learning Materials:

29 Jun 2022

Date	Session / Activity	Presentation Material	Speaker(s)
29 Jun 2022	Session I: Scene Setting	Moderated Discussion	Moderator: James P. Villafuerte, Senior Economist, ADB
29 Jun 2022	Presentation 1	Better Local Business Environments for Pandemic Recovery in Southeast Asia	Ramesh Subramanian, Director General, Southeast Asia Regional Department, ADB
29 Jun 2022	Keynote	Keynote Address	Ming Tan, Founding Executive Director, Tech For Good Institute
29 Jun 2022	Presentation 2	Recent trends and Policy Directions for Building Better Local Business Environments for Pandemic Recovery in Southeast Asia This presentation gives an overview of several important issues for MSMEs and processes to transition to a better MSMEs ecosystem.	Michael Schaper
29 Jun 2022	Session II: Panel Discussion	Moderated Discussion	Moderator: James P. Villafuerte, Senior Economist, ADB
29 Jun 2022	Panel Discussion	Panelists: Penn Sovicheat, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia Aphisid Sengsorivong, Director General, Enterprise Registration Department, Ministry of Industry & Commerce, Lao PDR
29 Jun 2022	Panel Discussion	The Provincial Competitiveness Index: Promoting Enabling Business Environment in Viet Nam from Business Perspective This presentation gives an overview of using PCI or provincial competitiveness index in empowering the private sector and promoting reforms from the bottom...	Thach Pham Ngoc
29 Jun 2022	Panel Discussion	Panelists: Hoan Tran, Senior Official, Ministry of Industry & Trade, Viet Nam Michael Schaper, Senior Visiting Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
29 Jun 2022	Panel Discussion	Digital Opportunities for MSMEs in Southeast Asia This presentation gives an overview of how digital technology become a gamechanger for MSMEs in Southeast Asia.	Ming Tan
29 Jun 2022		Closing

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