New Partnership Established to Boost Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

New Partnership Established to Boost Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia

The Rockefeller Foundation, The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, and the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs will work to expand market opportunities and coordination

LONDON—The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia (DFAT), and The Rockefeller Foundation announced a new partnership today that will aim to foster more inclusive, self-sustaining economies through entrepreneurship in East and Southeast Asia. With close to $500,000 committed, DFAT and The Rockefeller Foundation’s support will help grow and develop the ANDE East and Southeast Asia regional chapter, which will be based in Bangkok and serve the East and Southeast Asia region. Support for small and growing businesses (SGBs)—businesses with 5 to 250 employees and ready to scale—are essential to connecting both regional and global markets to local communities. As a result, underserved communities receive increased access to critical goods and services, such as education and housing. In Asia, there is growing evidence that this type of access has improved healthcare and provided offgrid communities with reliable and affordable energy sources.

“This partnership will strengthen the individual work of dozens of organizations supporting entrepreneurs in the region, and ultimately fortify small businesses working to effect change in their communities,” said Randall Kempner, executive director of ANDE. Additionally, the partnership will help to further expand the ANDE East and Southeast Chapter’s impact in the region through training programs and in-person events. This work builds on progress made by a volunteer steering committee that has been supporting ANDE’s work there since 2014.

“We are happy to support the expansion of a network that will help new and existing small and growing businesses to adopt inclusive business approaches, expose them to business opportunities aimed at addressing development challenges, and support them on their path to scale,” said Pariphan Uawithya, associate director of The Rockefeller Foundation. Kristy Graham, assistant director of Development Finance at DFAT added, “We see this as a unique opportunity to support a coordinated effort to maximize social impacts on agriculture, health and education, and more, through private sector solutions that can grow jobs that will lift people out of poverty. We’re thrilled to partner with ANDE and The Rockefeller Foundation in these ways.”

As a result of this new partnership, ANDE will hire local staff that can serve a growing set of actors that are focused on tackling economic development challenges through an SGB-focused lens. Investors, development organizations, entrepreneurship acceleration programs, capacity development providers, foundations, and corporations are each an important part of this entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This partnership was announced at the annual ANDE London Member Meeting at the Shell Centre in London. The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is a global network of more than 260 organizations from 150 countries that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets. ANDE members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) based on the conviction that SGBs will create jobs, stimulate long-term economic growth, and produce environmental and social benefits. Ultimately, we believe that SGBs can help lift countries out of poverty. For more information about ANDE, please visit: http://www.andeglobal.org. To read about entrepreneurs in our network, please visit: http://www.whysgbs.org.

Source: Press Release (link opens in a new window)

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