An e-commerce platform focusing on business-to-business export deals has dedicated much of its works to help Indonesian small and medium enterprises reach global audience.

While a vast majority of Indonesian businesses are SMEs, few have managed to secure overseas customers.

Most recently, the company assisted a small company in the Central Java capital of Semarang to secure pineapple supply deal with a wholesaler in the United Arab Emirates and even facilitated the maiden shipment. The company’s research team has identified commodities Indonesia may have advantage over other suppliers and certain markets which are more likely to buy them. For example, Middle East countries have a strong demand for Indonesian agro commodities and fresh food, the UK has been long known as key importer of Indonesian spices, tea and coffee, while Western Africa intends to buy Indonesian packed food and beverages.

The company has received support from the Cooperatives and SME Ministry and is currently in talks with the Trade Ministry to deepen cooperation with the government, which is struggling to boost international trade surpluses. Founded last year, the company aims to bring more than 100,000 Indonesian companies with over 1million products to its platform to conduct cross-border and domestic trading “in a trusted and transparent environment” by 2025, Bhat said.

Source: JakartaGlobe

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Thailand’s farm and food industry has been constantly incorporating new innovations in an effort to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands for innovative foods of a global market that is becoming swamped with virtually endless options.

Staying ahead of the game in this hugely competitive environment requires access to a wide diversity of raw materials on vast agricultural plantations and a well-developed supply chain. Leveraging advancements in digitalization and utilising deep technology such as 3D printing, AI and big data, the Thai agri-food industry is also producing foods that align with mainstream intelligence technology as well as addressing environmental concerns, while increasing transparency of production processes and improving safety standards.

The Thai government has identified “Future Food” as an industry that will become a key economic driving engine, as a combination of a passionate new generation of food producers, digitalization and food technology has elevated Thailand’s place to a global level in this exciting new industry. The government’s food development plan focuses on four areas: building new entrepreneurs, scaling innovations, utilising online marketing platforms and improving the ease of doing business. The government’s policy to streamline its digital databases and the operations of all of its agencies, as directed by an act enacted in 2019, will further enhance Thailand’s standing as one of the most promising locations for investment in the food industry.

The Thai government envisages Thailand becoming a key global player in the “Future Food” market – a new genre of food that is both functional and novel, often involving R&D and technology-enabled production processes and services.

“SPACE-F”2, Thailand’s first global food tech start-up incubator and accelerator, is now running Batch-II acceleration. Run by the National Innovation Agency, Mahidol University and Thai multinational food conglomerates, SPACE-F aims to serve as a platform on which promising entrepreneurs can receive mentorship and guidance from corporations, venture capital firms, corporate venture capital firms, and agencies that will empower them to scale up their food tech start-ups to succeed on the global scale. Reflecting their interest in food tech start-ups, local multinational food companies have also teamed up with start-up funds to invest in food tech start-ups worldwide.

The Thailand Board of Investment has also introduced tax incentives throughout the supply chain of the agri-food businesses, with a special focus on technology in the form of R&D, productivity enhancement, agri-tech, high-technology quality testing, plant factories and sustainability certification

Source: Bangkok Post

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Following the successful 2nd Philippines-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation meeting in December 2020, both countries renewed their commitments to intensify two-way trade and investment relations in the 1st Hungary-Philippines Online Business Matchmaking Event on 18-20 May 2021. The first day of the virtual event focused on trade, while the second on investments, and the last was allocated for the B2B matchmaking. The three-day event was attended by over 300 participants from both the Philippine and Hungarian business and government sectors. The B2B matchmaking was likewise a success, with 122 registered participants from both countries.

Mr. István Joó, Deputy State Secretary for Export Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, emphasized the strong economic cooperation between the Philippines and Hungary in the fields of green industry and technology, education, environmental diversity, food safety, and innovation. This was also highlighted by the visit of the Hungarian ministerial delegation last year to the Philippines since the onset of the pandemic, adding Hungarian offensive interests in water management, health, aviation, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

 

Dr. Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Undersecretary for the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group (IDTPG) and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head, reiterated that the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippine International Trading Corporation  (PITC) through its President, Mr. Dave M. Almarinez and the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency through Dr. Kristof Szabo, provides a framework to facilitate two-way Philippines-Hungary trade. Usec. Rodolfo also invited Hungarian companies to expand their business in the Philippines and maximize the use of the Eureopean Union Generalized System of Preferences Plus (EU-GSP+), which allows over 6,000 product lines from the Philippines to enter the EU at zero tariff. He also encouraged Hungarian businesses to take advantage of the recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement between the Assiociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five dialogue partners, namely, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

 

The Hungarian company presentations featured mostly consumer goods, with the exception of the Hungarian Water Technology Corporation (HWTC), represented by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Adrian Kiss. Joining Mr. Kiss were Mr. Marton Bodnar, Country Head of Hell Energy Drinks Philippines and Mr. Tamas Szobolevszki, Sales Manager at Babolna TETRA Ltd. Hell Energy Drinks has an extensive Philippine presence, especially in Visayas and Mindanao, with its headquarters stationed in Davao.

 

From the Philippine side, the company presentations included Mr. Antonio L. Tiu, President and CEO of Agrinurture Inc., Mr. Greg H. Banzon, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Century Pacific Food Inc., and Mr. Yoshihiro P. Ohno, Sales Manager of HIMEX Corporation. Agrinurture and Century Pacific are both exporters of food products, while HIMEX is engaged in the distribution of medical devices.

 

SOUTH-EAST Asia remains the top choice for Singapore startups and businesses as they continue to scale up their efforts despite, or perhaps because of Covid-19, given that this is an area with heightened focus as countries search for solutions and opportunities.

International projects increased by about 25 per cent, from 360 projects in the first 10 months of 2018 to about 450 projects in the same period in 2020. Markets with the highest number of projects include Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines said Enterprise Singapore's (ESG) assistant chief executive officer, Tan Soon Kim in an interview with The Business Times.

"Our companies are also increasingly interested in South-east Asia for innovation partnerships, given the region's growing emphasis to develop their innovation and startup ecosystem in the past few years," he said.

"The region has built a strong reputation in this scene, with 13 unicorns groomed here, of which seven are based in Singapore. The region has also been attracting a significant number of global investors, with many parking their funds in Singapore."

Early-stage venture capital fund Wavemaker Partners has seen interest in the region growing steadily since it began investing in South-east Asia in 2012.

"On the one hand, Covid-19 affects startups the same way it affects all businesses. On the other hand, it's just another challenge among the many challenges startups have to deal with anyway," said Wavemaker managing partner Paul Santos.

"We believe change is what drives opportunities to innovate. Covid-19 is driving major changes which are resulting in opportunities for startups to innovate."

Peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Societies' co-founder Kelvin Teo takes a similar view.

"Covid-19 was a watershed moment for startups in many sectors. However, it has also built significant resilience and maturity among surviving firms, which serve as a solid foundation to become impactful companies," he said.

From its founding in 2015, Funding Societies has been busy. It launched in Indonesia in January 2016 under the name Modalku and in Malaysia in February 2017. In October this year, FS Capital was approved as a participating financial institution under ESG's Enterprise Financing Scheme enabling it to offer working capital loans and trade loans to more SMEs.

Even as the team keep their eye on this ball, they aim to selectively enter new countries in the region and strategically explore new business models as they contemplate their next stage of evolution, said Mr Teo.

"We typically invest considerable time to prepare before entering a new market. We're passionate about Thailand have had a SWAT team there since late-2019, with high hopes for 2021."

Startups in the region are learning to tap government initiatives to build up their innovation ecosystem.

In Thailand, for instance, the National Innovation Agency is currently in discussion with banks to provide loans with zero or low interest for startups. Meanwhile, Malaysia has funding for high-tech startups and is also promoting equity crowdfunding.

In Vietnam, the National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development under the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ESG in 2018 to facilitate two-way collaborations for startups, ecosystem builders and tertiary institutions.

On the local front, ESG has seen growing interest in its Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Acceleration Programmes, with the number of participating companies in GIA tripling from 103 in 2019 to 370 in 2020.

On Monday, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan announced the expansion of the network to include Manila, in addition to existing nodes in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City. The latter programmes have begun their first runs this year and there are plans for programming in GIA Manila to commence in early 2021.

"Companies are cognisant that there is no returning to pre-Covid times. To recover and become more resilient in the future, companies, especially startups, will need to innovate to set themselves apart and gain an edge over their competitors. Collaborations with the right partners, whether through participation in co-innovation programmes or open innovation platforms, can help them develop more innovative solutions, adapt business models and accelerate access to markets where growth opportunities are abundant," said Mr Tan.

This push for collaboration runs both ways. Mr Tan noted that large companies have been working with ESG to seek solutions from SMEs and startups through platforms such as the inaugural South-east Asia Open Innovation Challenge (SEA OIC).

"Corporates in South-east Asia are particularly keen on developing new solutions to support financial inclusivity, reaching out to rural areas and small businesses via mobile, SMS or online banking. VNG Cloud from Vietnam for example, will be looking for partners to co-innovate technologies to support its eKnow Your Customer (eKYC) solution to reach out to over 60 per cent of Vietnam's population living in rural areas at the SEA OIC," he said.

The SEA OIC was also launched by Mr Tan at the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology 2020 (SWITCH 2020) on Monday. The first collaboration of its kind, the SEA OIC spans five regional corporate-level partnerships in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Companies that have come onboard include Central Group, Emtek Group, Hong Leong Holdings, Sunway Group and VNG Cloud.

Source: Mindy Tan / The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Read full article here.

SLINGSHOT powered by Startup SG (SLINGSHOT) returns for the fifth year. Organised by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), SLINGSHOT 2021 welcomes startups with the most innovative solutions in the following four emerging challenge sectors: i) Sustainability, ii) Health & Wellness, iii) Smart Cities and iv) Digital Technologies. SLINGSHOT 2021 will once again be held virtually, following the successful organisation of the first fully-virtual SLINGSHOT competition last year. The call for entries has opened.

As part of Singapore's Startup SG initiatives to nurture startups, SLINGSHOT is ESG’s marquee startup pitching competition that provides startups with an international platform to profile themselves to corporates, industry veterans and investors. This year, more than S$1.1 million worth of prizes are up for grabs, including the grand Startup SG grant prize of S$200,000, S$50,000 Startup SG grants for the top ten winners, and S$30,000 Startup SG Grant Prizes for Corporate Challenge winners. The Corporate Challenge will be open to all Top 1000 Global Startups to explore potential partnerships and co-innovation projects with participating corporates. 

The finals of SLINGSHOT 2021 will take place from 8 to 10 November 2021, as part of SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology). The Top 100 Global Startups will get to pitch their ideas to a panel of prominent judges comprising corporates and investors. SLINGSHOT 2020’s virtual format saw over 7,500 applications coming from more than 150 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

SLINGSHOT has also served as an effective platform to facilitate co-innovation between corporates and startups. The Corporate Challenge in 2020 saw a pilot co-innovation project between Cargill and STIMSHOP4 , which uses ultrasound proximity technology and Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) to record interaction statistics of Cargill’s workers, and ensure safe distancing between them. The solution will be tested at Cargill’s sites in Singapore and Indonesia. Rolls-Royce is also piloting a project with Noodle Factory, to use the latter’s AI-powered solution to automatically tag unstructured data6 within Rolls-Royce. This would help create a knowledge base that employees can access easily using conversational AI.

The call for SLINGSHOT 2021 entries will close on 1 August 2021. Interested parties can apply by submitting an application form at https://slingshot.agorize.com/2021- edition. Local and global partners keen to leverage the SLINGSHOT platform to collaborate with aspiring startups or work with us to promote innovation can contact ESG at seng_woei_yuan@enterprisesg.gov.sg.

Read full media release here.

In April 2021, the European Council signed the new EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, which reinforces the EU strategic focus on the fast-growing region, which includes ASEAN.

The European Union wishes to build on a rules-based international order, based on agreed standards, with an open and fair environment for trade and investment – in both directions, improvement of competitiveness and resilience and with a strong “green” focus.

While much of the strategy includes policies on security and defence, cyber activities, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, a significant element includes progress towards multilateralism and interregional cooperation.

Along with trade, sustainability is also going to be a major element in the new European approach and the strategy also refers to green investments and potential mobilisation of the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus that could be leveraged in ASEAN, transforming the economy as part of a post-pandemic reconstruction, and enabling the region to achieve the Agenda 2030 targets.

The EU is pushing a new growth strategy transforming Europe into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, with a target of zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. This involves huge investments into environmentally friendly technologies, cheaper and healthier forms of private and public transport, decarbonisation of energy and importantly for ASEAN countries, working to improve global environmental standards.

Source: The Star

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What is the goal of every asset-based manufacturing company? Finding ways to decrease production cost and increase production efficiency, leading to bigger profit. However, that means that not just manpower, but also machinery, equipment, supply chain and the warehouse need to function flawlessly and at their optimum. In reality, one of the main challenges that manufacturers face is unplanned downtime caused by failure of machinery. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help overcome these and many other obstacles relating to the manufacturing business, improve operational efficiency, launch new products, customise product design and plan future financial actions.

Here are top 10 applications of AI in manufacturing:

1. Predictive maintenance. In the US, 42% of unplanned downtime results from machinery failure, and regular maintenance of machinery is one of the biggest cost centres manufacturers have. With the advancements in AI, it is now possible to build predictive models that can foresee and predict future machinery performance and possible malfunction. This enables manufacturers to take necessary measures before problems occur, saving time and resources.
2. Defect detection. Most manufacturing assembly lines do not have automated systems or technologies put into place to identify defects in finished products. Workers need to manually check each product. By incorporating AI, with its self-learning capability, into the process, manufacturers can now have a smarter defect detection system that frees the human from the repetitive work of manual verification.
3. Human-robot collaboration. While more jobs are being taken over by robots, workers are being trained for more advanced positions like in product design and equipment maintenance. In most manufacturing settings, collaborative robots working alongside human workers are now being deployed as an extra set of hands.
4. Generative design. Generative design is where a program is built using advanced technologies, to generate a number of outputs that meet specified criteria. It enables an engineer to input their design goals and parameters and cost constraints into generative design software. This software then explores possible configurations and provides the best design options. This enables a manufacturing company to explore design ideas much quicker than with a real person designing a product.
5. Quality assurance. AI in manufacturing that has turned previously manual and tedious tasks into automated processes. By using AI and image processing, engineers can now develop algorithms that can automatically evaluate and establish whether an item has been perfectly produced.
6. Digital twins. A digital twin means a virtual representation of a product, process or system that a business can use to make model-driven decisions, rapid product development and operational performance improvement.
7. Demand prediction. By developing machine learning models that run predictive analysis algorithms a manufacturer can estimate market demands by looking for patterns in location, socioeconomic and macroeconomic factors, among other customer behaviours.
8. Supply chain management. Handling the supply chain management manually, poses a significant time and energy drain on the workers and company resources. AI and behavioural analytics have made supply chain management systems much smarter and more efficient. For example, with the right team of skilled software engineers, a manufacturer can develop AI tools and apps for optimising warehouse management and logistic operations, like production, delivery, and fleet operations.
9. Inventory management. Since machine learning is better at handling demand forecasting and supply planning, it can be used to successfully design solutions that promote inventory planning activities. A demand forecasting tool that is powered with AI will give a manufacturer more accurate forecasts than traditional demand forecasting methods that are always prone to human bias and errors.
10. Costumer service. By employing AI in manufacturing, companies can develop solutions for analysing customer behaviour, identifying patterns as well as predicting future outcomes. Also, implementing AI solutions in customer service has added benefits like quick response times and personalised experiences which lead to improved relations.

Source: Global Trade

Many companies around the world are experimenting with the four-day workweek; some are asking their employees to work the normal working hours four days a week, while others pack a 40 hours workweek into four days. Whatever the strategy, the idea is catching on, but what are the benefits, and challenges?

On the positive side, employees are generally more engaged and productive, have lower stress levels, and have a better work-life balance with more time to run necessary personal errands. Employers have noted an up to 40% increase in productivity, as well as considerable cost savings related to the extra day off: lower costs of absenteeism, such as sick days and any pay relating to that, as well as lower costs of utilities, relating to opening the office five days a week. Less stressed employees also reduce the risk and cost of employee turnover. Eventually, this can also lead to increased profits for the company.

At the same time, some employees can be more stressed having to complete their work in a shorter time frame, while others work longer hours during the four days, and highly customer-facing jobs or companies, can be difficult to balance with the day off. Not all industries, such as finance, construction, are well positioned to implement a four-day work week, as their revenue is tied to external factors.

How to tackle this? One option is to for employees to rotate the day-off, avoiding a full-scale shut-down for the extra day, or to start implementing the four-day workweek every other week. Overall, there are clear benefits of the shortened workweek, and happy employees make a happy employer, so everyone win.

Source: e27

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Digital procurement, not to be confused with purchasing or sourcing, is yet another avenue in which logistics businesses are moving forward. When a business makes the transition to complete digital procurement, they make available a wide variety of advantages.

Digital procurement increases efficiency by automating and streamlining repetitive processes, and lowering costs, with AI helping avoid costly errors. In addition to that, it produces a wealth of useful data, making day-to-day operations and decision-making more informed, and generally serves as a platform for collaboration between buyers, suppliers, and third parties, leading to optimal purchasing decisions.

 Digital procurement leverages pricing, matching, and ranking algorithms across vast amounts of capacity data to efficiently distribute load opportunities to carriers. In a time of constant market fluctuation, heavily stretched supply chains and forecasting models with limited visibility, digital procurement includes visibility features that give procurement officers and business owners actionable insights into their processes.

A tech-forward approach helps solve these problems with detailed information more readily accessible and easy to understand, thereby allowing business owners to launch most profitable action plans for the business. In addition, a completely digital system can be more easily updated and changes across platforms more rapidly implemented.

Recognising the value of a digital transition as early as possible will keep businesses in line with the curve, and in a post-COVID world, digital procurement in business is not a question of if, but when.

Source: Global Trade

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There is a growing concern in the world about the effects of climate change, which are also strongly felt in Southeast Asia. There is an increasing need to reduce reliance on carbon-heavy energy production and industrial practices, and to shift to more sustainable development methods, in order to secure sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty and generally increase societal well-being. This gap can be overcome through the use of clean or renewable energy technologies, or cleantech, such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, biothermal and ocean energy. Cleantech innovation has emerged in the region across various industries, such as energy efficiency, distribution and storage; transportation; information and telecommunication technology; agriculture, water and waste; and chemicals and advanced materials.

Innovation of clean technologies in Southeast Asia has been rapidly developing over the last decade, due to numerous investments in the industry. Mainly driven by rising incomes, industrialisation, and urbanisation, energy demand in Southeast Asian countries is expected to grow by 60% by 2040, and further innovations are needed to meet the growth in demand for energy.

Although cleantech is still a developing industry in the region, it has grown into one of the top largest venture capital investment sectors. As many Asian cities struggle to deal with the effects of climate change, cleantech is steadily providing the solutions that are needed. Several cleantech innovations from Southeast Asia have expanded around the world: from the Cambodian start-up developing agricultural biodigesters to convert organic waste into clean energy and fertiliser, and Filipino companies launching non-incineration technologies for treating solid and infectious medical waste with reduced water contamination, and utilising solar power for post-harvest crop cooling, to Singaporean innovators using sun oriented grid-controls and other IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to support the growth of smart green cities.

Southeast Asia has the highest renewable energy penetration in Asia, on average 45.7%, with Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia leading the way, mainly driven by hydropower and bioenergy. The ten Member States of ASEAN have also set out an ambitious renewable energy target, aiming to achieve a 23% renewable energy share in the energy mix by 2025. As ASEAN is planning to accelerate the energy collaboration between its members and it is reported that decarbonisation, decentralisation, and digitalisation are the main drivers in Southeast Asian energy transitions, there are considerable business opportunities to be taken advantage of.

Source: Medium

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Digitalisation and technology innovation have fuelled the growth of many industries, among them food technologies, which not only has emerged as a response to the COVID-19, but also are helping the food and beverages industry to keep up with changing consumer demands and consumption trends.

Sub-industries such as online grocery and food delivery services, health conscious, plant based and bioengineered foods, and more nutritious and bespoke pet food, are all influencing the emergence of various foodtech solutions and companies. As consumers are increasingly health conscious, they are choosing sustainable, locally sourced and produced products, which have clear health benefits, and are also environmentally friendly to produce and recycle. Therefore, there are various opportunities for ASEAN food-, bio- and agritech companies to launch new products, attract additional customers and gain market share in a fast-growing and lucrative industry.

Source: Tech Collective

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