Le Voeu Event Company and Darussalam Enterprise (DARe) will be representing Brunei in an ASEAN business workshop in Thailand today that will make policy recommendations on how small businesses in the region can internationalise by going digital.
The workshop’s outcomes are expected to inform policy guidelines that will be submitted to ASEAN leaders at the regional bloc’s 35th biannual summit later this year.
The Deputy Director General for the Office of SMEs Promotion in Thailand Wimonkan Kosumas – who are hosting the workshop as part of Thailand’s ASEAN’s chairmanship – said the views of ASEAN representatives would be sought on how the region’s micro enterprises can accelerate access to international markets through digital models and marketing.
The founder of Le Voeu Event Company – who organized the Brunei Amazing Race last March – said they were keen to seek out best practices to help digitalise their business beyond setting up their website and social media.
“Social media and our website have been effective (marketing) in getting our name out there and we are looking to gain more insight into how to further digitalise to potentially tap into new markets,” said Liew Mei Chey.
She said that Le Voeu has also begun to use an online software to automate the creation of quotes, invoices as well as other internal workflow processes. “I think digitalising has opened up many opportunities for small businesses to grow and gain visibility at a rate much quicker than what was possible before,” she added.
The day-long ASEAN Workshop on Global Digitalization Model for Micro Enterprises will be held at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok, covering three sessions. The first examines born global enterprises or businesses who focus on multiple markets since their inception, while the second brings together micro businesses from ASEAN to discuss how they’ve used digital methods to bring awareness to their brands. The final session showcases digital platforms operating in the region that have help propel micro businesses into foreign markets.