Darussalam Enterprise (DARe) Director of Enterprise Development Norlela binti Suhaily spoke about the importance of multi-institutional efforts to mainstream women's participation in the economic activities of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at both the ASEAN and national levels, saying that they have launched various development programmes and initiatives to create a supportive environment that enables women entrepreneurs to embark on their entrepreneurial journey, foster growth and increase their impact in the economic community.
She said this during the country launch of the ASEAN Developing Women's Digital Economy Participation Project (IDEAS), a continuing initiative of the Brunei Darussalam Economic Development Board (BEDB) implemented by the ASEAN Coordinating Committee for Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) in partnership with the Asia Pacific Women's Information Network Centre (APWINC) at Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea, under the ASEAN Small and Medium Enterprise Strategic Action Plan 2016-2025 (SAP SMED 2025).
“We hope that the implementation of this project will actively engage women entrepreneurs in acquiring new knowledge and skills, providing them with a transformative experience that will help them reframe and strengthen their approach to entrepreneurship,” she added.
The event, held at the Anggerek Desa Design and Technology Building, was attended by various institutions and partners, including consultants, mentors, project trainers and trainees.
The project aims to strengthen collaboration between ASEAN Member States (AMS) and Korea, while increasing women entrepreneurs’ capacity to use information and communications technology and online business platforms through training and access to information, and providing opportunities for them to actively participate in the ASEAN economy.
The project, which was funded by the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) with a total funding of over US$5.6 million, benefiting more than 4,000 women entrepreneurs across ASEAN, began implementation in January 2022 in partnership with ASEAN consultants and implementing agencies.
The project is scheduled to run until 2026 and will involve activities such as developing an e-business training toolkit for ASEAN women SMEs, training e-business trainers in AMS, e-business capacity building training for women SMEs in AMS, and encouraging and supporting ASEAN women SMEs to participate in the digital economy.
The launch was co-chaired by DARe Enterprise Development Director Norlela, who is also ACCMSME Brunei Darussalam’s Lead Representative, and Dr Han Na Kim of Sook Myung University, Korea, APWINC Deputy Executive Director for Planning (replacing Executive Director Dr Cho Jeong-in).
In the Sultanate, the IDEAS project is set to provide training to 242 beneficiaries in all four districts from tomorrow until December 2025. The implementation of the project will involve 14 local trainers, who are expected to provide training modules tailored to the country's needs, context and conditions.
Modules include topics such as Business Model Generation and Innovation, Customer Development, Funding, E-Commerce, Digital Marketing Core, Digital Marketing Advanced, Digital Content Development Core, Digital Content Development Advanced, Privacy and Cyber Security, and Women Empowerment in the Digital Economy. – Adib Noor
