Author Archives: Stephanie Davis

Creating sustainable growth for Southeast Asia’s digital economy

The past few years have shown Southeast Asia’s incredible resilience, as people and businesses have come online – often for the first time – to find new ways of accomplishing what would previously have to be done in person. In 2022, we’ve seen that resilience again, with global economic headwinds rising just as the region began to emerge from the pandemic.

Despite the challenges, Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to show its dynamism and strength. It’s expected to reach 20% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year, heading towards US$200 billion in value. Encouragingly, as the lateste-Conomy SEA 2022 report confirms, the region is on track to hit that milestone three years earlier than we expected in our inaugural report in 2016.

Chart that shows the internet user growth percentages from 360 million in 2019 to 460 million in 2022

Over the past three years, 100 million new internet users have come online. The accelerated adoption of digital services we saw during the pandemic is now slowing down as technology becomes an integral part of people’s lives – particularly in urban areas. Many digital businesses are shifting priorities from winning new customers to engaging more deeply with existing ones.

At the same time, there is plenty of room for the digital economy to grow, especially among suburban segments where digital services adoption is still relatively low.

With that in mind, here are the main highlights from the 2022 report:

Digital sectors are following different growth trajectories

E-commerce spiked significantly during the pandemic and continues to thrive, with GMV growing 16% year-over-year. The growth continues despite people partially returning to shopping in person and businesses focusing on driving profitability— for example, by reducing discounts and monetizing value-added services. Food delivery is back to its trendline after tripling through the pandemic, and is expected to reach 14% growth. Transport is looking towards a robust recovery – 43% year-over-year growth – but continues to encounter obstacles such as inflated fuel costs and workforce shortages. Travel is back and looking at a significant 115% growth, boosted by the opening of international borders. However, full recovery for the transport and travel sectors is expected to be gradual, and it will take some more time before they regain 2019 levels.

Digital Financial Services (DFS) continues to grow as a result of offline-to-online behavior shifts enduring post-pandemic, and we see winning business models emerge. Racing to capture different consumer segments, pureplay fintechs and consumer tech platforms are strengthening their position in the region, while established financial services accelerate digitalisation to compete with these newer players.

Tech investments are still going strong

Through the report, we also take a view into how investors in Southeast Asia's digital economy look at the growth and innovation coming from the region. Despite investors becoming more cautious in the current economic environment, tech funding maintained its strength during the first half of 2022, with a 13% growth in deal value from H1 2021 to H1 2022. Continuing the trend from the second half of 2021, DFS remained the top funded sector across Southeast Asia and overtook e-commerce as the region’s top investment sector. Emerging sectors hold promise in the digital decade, as over 80% of VCs expect that the focus in investments will increase in healthtech, SaaS and Web3.

However, a closer look at the investments also reveal that while early-stagers are flourishing, late-stage investments are impacted by dim IPO prospects. Going into the second half of the year, investors are adopting a more cautious wait-and-watch approach.

New enablers open the way towards a sustainable digital economy

Historically, digital economy enablers in Southeast Asia have included payments, funding, logistics, internet access, and consumer trust. We’ve seen significant progress in many areas but as the digital economy continues to scale, we need to broaden our targets to ensure the growth is sustainable and no one is left behind.

During the next two to three years, amidst the current macroeconomic climate, it’s clear that the path to profitability is an immediate priority for companies to maintain growth momentum. However, in the long run, digital inclusion and addressing growing environmental and social concerns will be key to success. It’s everyone’s shared responsibility to help achieve these goals – companies, customers, investors, and governments alike.

Chart that shows the growth potential of Southeast Asia’s digital economy from $200 billion in 2022 to $330B in 2025, and $600 billion to $1 trillion range in 2030.

Amidst the global economic headwinds, Southeast Asia is showing just how resilient and adaptable it can be. Its fundamentals remain strong and the digital decade holds great promise: the region’s digital economy is expected to grow twice as fast as GDP in most countries through 2030, and could reach up to $1T if it succeeds in scaling sustainably and unlocking its full potential.

Creating sustainable growth for Southeast Asia’s digital economy

The past few years have shown Southeast Asia’s incredible resilience, as people and businesses have come online – often for the first time – to find new ways of accomplishing what would previously have to be done in person. In 2022, we’ve seen that resilience again, with global economic headwinds rising just as the region began to emerge from the pandemic.

Despite the challenges, Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to show its dynamism and strength. It’s expected to reach 20% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year, heading towards US$200 billion in value. Encouragingly, as the lateste-Conomy SEA 2022 report confirms, the region is on track to hit that milestone three years earlier than we expected in our inaugural report in 2016.

Chart that shows the internet user growth percentages from 360 million in 2019 to 460 million in 2022

Over the past three years, 100 million new internet users have come online. The accelerated adoption of digital services we saw during the pandemic is now slowing down as technology becomes an integral part of people’s lives – particularly in urban areas. Many digital businesses are shifting priorities from winning new customers to engaging more deeply with existing ones.

At the same time, there is plenty of room for the digital economy to grow, especially among suburban segments where digital services adoption is still relatively low.

With that in mind, here are the main highlights from the 2022 report:

Digital sectors are following different growth trajectories

E-commerce spiked significantly during the pandemic and continues to thrive, with GMV growing 16% year-over-year. The growth continues despite people partially returning to shopping in person and businesses focusing on driving profitability— for example, by reducing discounts and monetizing value-added services. Food delivery is back to its trendline after tripling through the pandemic, and is expected to reach 14% growth. Transport is looking towards a robust recovery – 43% year-over-year growth – but continues to encounter obstacles such as inflated fuel costs and workforce shortages. Travel is back and looking at a significant 115% growth, boosted by the opening of international borders. However, full recovery for the transport and travel sectors is expected to be gradual, and it will take some more time before they regain 2019 levels.

Digital Financial Services (DFS) continues to grow as a result of offline-to-online behavior shifts enduring post-pandemic, and we see winning business models emerge. Racing to capture different consumer segments, pureplay fintechs and consumer tech platforms are strengthening their position in the region, while established financial services accelerate digitalisation to compete with these newer players.

Tech investments are still going strong

Through the report, we also take a view into how investors in Southeast Asia's digital economy look at the growth and innovation coming from the region. Despite investors becoming more cautious in the current economic environment, tech funding maintained its strength during the first half of 2022, with a 13% growth in deal value from H1 2021 to H1 2022. Continuing the trend from the second half of 2021, DFS remained the top funded sector across Southeast Asia and overtook e-commerce as the region’s top investment sector. Emerging sectors hold promise in the digital decade, as over 80% of VCs expect that the focus in investments will increase in healthtech, SaaS and Web3.

However, a closer look at the investments also reveal that while early-stagers are flourishing, late-stage investments are impacted by dim IPO prospects. Going into the second half of the year, investors are adopting a more cautious wait-and-watch approach.

New enablers open the way towards a sustainable digital economy

Historically, digital economy enablers in Southeast Asia have included payments, funding, logistics, internet access, and consumer trust. We’ve seen significant progress in many areas but as the digital economy continues to scale, we need to broaden our targets to ensure the growth is sustainable and no one is left behind.

During the next two to three years, amidst the current macroeconomic climate, it’s clear that the path to profitability is an immediate priority for companies to maintain growth momentum. However, in the long run, digital inclusion and addressing growing environmental and social concerns will be key to success. It’s everyone’s shared responsibility to help achieve these goals – companies, customers, investors, and governments alike.

Chart that shows the growth potential of Southeast Asia’s digital economy from $200 billion in 2022 to $330B in 2025, and $600 billion to $1 trillion range in 2030.

Amidst the global economic headwinds, Southeast Asia is showing just how resilient and adaptable it can be. Its fundamentals remain strong and the digital decade holds great promise: the region’s digital economy is expected to grow twice as fast as GDP in most countries through 2030, and could reach up to $1T if it succeeds in scaling sustainably and unlocking its full potential.

A digital decade for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia’s digital decade is here. Technology has been critical in helping Southeast Asians get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as the latest eConomy Southeast Asia report shows, the digital economy is poised to play an even bigger role in the region’s future than we had imagined.

Last year, we saw Southeast Asia’s resilience in the face of the pandemic, as people turned to the internet to meet their everyday needs in new ways. This year’s report — published today by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company — shows a resurgence, and looks ahead to a “roaring 20s” where technology will open up exciting new possibilities for hundreds of millions of people across the region.

We now forecast that the digital economy will reach $174 billion in gross merchandise value by the end of 2021 and pick up pace to hit $363 billion by 2025, well above last year’s estimate of $300 billion. For the first time, we also make a 2030 forecast— projecting that the digital economy could reach a value of $1 trillion by the end of the decade. Growth on that scale would see Southeast Asia help define the future of technology globally.

A video showing the report's key themes for 2021
10:25

Here are some of the key themes from the 2021 report — and a look ahead to the enablers that will ensure Southeast Asia reaches its enormous potential.

Southeast Asians continue to surge online

Of the region’s population of 589 million, 440 million people (or 75%) are online — including 40 million who started using the internet for the first time in 2021. About 350 million Southeast Asians are ‘digital consumers’, meaning they’ve bought at least one online service. Since the pandemic began, the region has added 60 million more digital consumers. And the shift online appears to be here to stay: nine out of 10 people who started using a new online service in 2020 continued using it in 2021.

An infographic showing that the number of internet users in Southeast Asia has grown from 360 million in 2019 to 400 million in 2020 to 440 million in 2021.

A new wave of digital merchants emerges

The internet has been critical in helping Southeast Asia’s small businesses get through the pandemic — and plan for the future. In preparing the 2021 report, we spoke to 3,000 digital merchants (small businesses that use digital tools, usually in food services or retail). We were struck by what a positive experience they’d had since moving online. Today, 90% of these merchants accept digital payments and one in three believe they wouldn’t have survived the pandemic without going online. Over the next five years, eight out of 10 merchants anticipate that more than half their sales will come from online sources.

An infographic showing that 84% of digital merchants surveyed agree digital platforms create more jobs, 84% agree they improve people’s livelihood, 87% agree sales would have declined or there would have been no sales during the pandemic, and 88% agree digital platforms bring positive benefits for their company.

E-commerce leads the digital economy’s resurgence

The rise of e-commerce is at the heart of the regional digital economy’s renewed growth, as people use the internet to buy more and more everyday products and services. The report estimates the e-commerce sector could pass $120 billion in GMV by the end of 2021 and reach $234 billion by 2025. Food delivery is also growing fast, with 71% of all internet users ordering meals online, and online media is increasingly popular — helped by the growing popularity of gaming.

At the same time, three emerging sectors are growing faster because of COVID-19: health, education and financial technology. As people look for greater convenience and accessibility, these sectors are expected to keep expanding and become a significant part of the digital economy by 2030.

A girl in a blue school uniform sits on the front step of a raised building made of wood and corrugated iron. She is typing on a laptop.

Funding fuels opportunity

Across the digital economy, investment is on track towards a record high in 2021. The value of deals in the region was $11.5 billion in the first half of 2021, compared with $11.6 billion in the whole of 2020. Most funding (about 60%) is going to e-commerce and digital financial services, but the growth of health technology has caught investors’ attention: funding for the sector rose to a record high of $1.1 billion in the first six months of the year, more than the 2020 total of $800 million. And there is a pool of $14.2 billion of capital available for founders looking for backing to take their ideas forward.

Looking ahead: a digital decade for everyone

A $1 trillion digital economy in 2030 would mean more widely-accessible online services, new jobs and stronger businesses. It would also see Southeast Asia shaping advances in technology for the wider Asia-Pacific region and beyond, as a bellwether of global digital trends. But to make sure the digital decade benefits as many people as possible, we have to focus on the right enablers. The priorities for the years ahead include getting regulatory frameworks right, putting data infrastructure in place, and ensuring the digital economy develops in a way that’s equitable — for example, by protecting the interests of gig workers and safeguarding online privacy.

Google’s commitment is to help build a digital economy that can benefit everyone in Southeast Asia by 2030. We want to play our part in creating responsible growth and providing economic opportunities for current and future generations. We’ll continue to build the future of the internet in and for this region, provide inclusive, safe access for the communities we serve, and be a partner to Southeast Asia’s businesses and governments on the way to a bigger, better digital economy.

Media literacy training for Southeast Asian communities

Forty million people in Southeast Asia started using the internet for the first time in 2020. Yet the level of media literacy in the region remains relatively low. Often, people in Southeast Asia lack the skills to interpret the information they encounter online — and efforts to change this have historically been fragmented and under-resourced.

As we mark 10 years since UNESCO’s first Global Media and Information Literacy Week, we want to ensure more Southeast Asians — especially first-time users — can navigate the internet with confidence. Today, we announced a $1.5 million grant from Google.org to help the ASEAN Foundation expand media literacy education in the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The goal is to equip more than 1,000 trainers with new skills and materials, enabling them to provide training for more than 100,000 people — from young people to older internet users — over the next two years.

In addition to the Google.org grant, Google employees plan to volunteer their time and technical expertise to the ASEAN Foundation and its beneficiaries.

We know strengthening media literacy has to be a collective effort, and at today’s ASEAN Digital Literacy Forum — the first event of its kind in the region — we joined 200 representatives from governments, academia, and nonprofit organizations to discuss the most effective ways to address online misinformation.

We’re doing a lot with technology itself, from raising up authoritative websites in Google Search to creating better tools for fact-checkers. But the most sustainable way forward involves the public, private and nonprofit sectors working together to give people the knowledge they need.

Alt text: An excerpt from Google’s media literacy comic book, with a young woman in glasses reading advice on a laptop about spotting misinformation using the mnemonic SHEEP: source, history, evidence, promotion, pictures.

As part of the ASEAN Digital Literacy Forum, we launched a comic book to illustrate how misinformation can spread, and what to do to prevent it.

It’s also critical that we understand the local environment and tailor solutions to the specific challenges communities are facing — a principle that’s guided Google’s partnerships across Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, we partnered with MAFINDO to develop a web drama series that educated viewers about debunking misinformation in a family setting, before running hands-on workshops for 5,000 people. And in the Philippines, we helped the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication create teaching tools and training for almost 300 senior high school teachers. That included videos showing ”a day in the life” of a local journalist and news report-style videos to contextualize news literacy — efforts that ultimately reached close to 40,000 students. At today’s Forum, together with the ASEAN Foundation, we launched a comic book to illustrate how misinformation can spread, and what to do to prevent it.

Misinformation is multifaceted and the challenges it creates are constantly evolving. Whether it’s updating Google and YouTube product policies, elevating the work of fact-checkers, or supporting organizations like ASEAN Foundation, we’re going to keep doing everything we can to help advance media literacy in Southeast Asia and beyond.

New support for Southeast Asia’s COVID-19 response

In many parts of Southeast Asia and beyond, the impact of COVID-19 remains severe. More than 18 months after the virus first began spreading, high caseloads and new variants are putting pressure on health systems. It’s a difficult time for people across the region, and heartbreaking for those who’ve lost loved ones.  


Vaccines offer a path to stability and recovery, and Google is working closely with governments, health authorities and nonprofits as inoculation programs roll out. But there’s also an urgent need for the equipment that health workers depend on as they battle the pandemic and care for patients on the front lines. 


Today, through our philanthropic arm, Google.org, we’re announcing a new, $2.5 million grant to help UNICEF and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) — as well as partners on the ground — scale up the COVID-19 response in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Pakistan.This will provide critical, life-saving support to the people who need it most.


In addition to funding this immediate medical response, Google.org will provide a further $5 million in ad grants so local government agencies and organizations like UNICEF can run public information campaigns — ensuring important health messages reach the widest possible audience.   


The new Google.org funds are part of Google’s broader contribution to the response to COVID across Asia-Pacific, including in Southeast Asia. In partnership with health authorities, we’re sharing the latest health information and supporting news sources people can trust. We’re also contributing in every way we can to Southeast Asia’s economic recovery, from providing small business owners and workers with digital skills training to fostering the next generation of startup founders. Through a separate Google.org grant, we’re helping ASEAN, the Asia Foundation and local nonprofits close digital divides in marginalized communities. 


And we continue to be humbled and inspired by the generosity of Googlers. Our global employee giving campaign — matched by Google.org and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — has helped fully vaccinate more than 1 million people globally. Here in Southeast Asia, Googlers have donated $80,000 and counting for local nonprofits’ COVID response efforts in Indonesia and Vietnam.  


We’re sending our best wishes for safety and wellbeing to everyone affected by the pandemic throughout the region. Looking ahead, we’ll keep standing with the communities we serve — and working with our partners to shape a sustainable recovery for the long term. 


A wave of change for Southeast Asia’s internet economy

Over the past five years, Southeast Asia’s internet economy has experienced tremendous growth and change. But what we’ve seen in 2020 marks the biggest shift yet, as the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report from Google, Temasek and Bain & Company shows.


The report—At Full Velocity: Resilient and Racing Ahead—outlines how Southeast Asians navigating the coronavirus pandemic are using the internet in more ways and on a larger scale than ever before. 


Since the beginning of the year, 40 million people in Southeast Asia have connected to the internet for the first time (compared to 10 million in 2019 and 100 million between 2015 and 2019). With technology providing vital access to online shopping, food, healthcare, education, finance and entertainment, more than one in every three digital service consumers started using a new type of online service due to COVID-19. And of those new digital consumers, nine out of 10 plan to keep using at least one digital service beyond the pandemic.

Summarising eConomy SEA 2020
10:25

Despite a global economic slowdown, and the severe impact on travel in particular, the gross merchandise value of the regional internet economy has held steady at an estimated $100 billion in 2020, and is expected to surpass $300 billion by 2025. 


Technology’s vital role during the crisis


Eight out of ten people across the region said technology helped them get through the virus—and they used the internet for a wide range of reasons. In most of the sectors we looked at, new users made up more than 30 percent of total, but education, groceries and loans saw the biggest jumps. 

New digital service consumers by sector

The pandemic also saw demand for (and access to) digital services continue to expand beyond Southeast Asia’s biggest cities. In Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, more than half the people new to digital services live in non-metropolitan areas. This is encouraging progress, given that the urban-rural digital divide is one of the main challenges the report has highlighted over recent years. 


The changing shape of the regional internet economy


Not surprisingly, e-commerce is growing faster than we could have imagined before the crisis: from $38 billion in value last year to $62 billion this year, and expected to reach $172 billion by 2025. Digital financial services are becoming more important, too: the average proportion of cash transactions declined from 48 percent of the total pre-COVID to 37 percent post-COVID. From here, the report finds that the annual value of total digital payment transactions across Southeast Asia will almost double to $1.2 trillion by 2025.
Digital financial service adoption

At the same time, new sectors are emerging, especially in education and health technology. 

At the peak of the pandemic, leading health apps were being used four times as much as they were before the pandemic and education technology app installations had increased three-fold.


Greater focus for businesses, cautious optimism for investors


Global uncertainty means Southeast Asia’s major technology companies are focusing on strengthening their business and becoming profitable, rather than on expanding into new areas. Funding for companies valued at more than $1 billion has dropped from $5.6 billion in 2019 to an estimated $3.5 billion in 2020. 


Overall, investors are cautiously optimistic. The number of deals has kept growing and we’re starting to see investors look towards new areas of opportunity in financial services, education and healthcare. For startups with strong ideas and business plans, there’s an available pool of capital worth almost $12 billion.

Investment funds available

Building for the opportunity ahead


COVID-19 has changed Southeast Asians’ daily lives in fundamental ways. The digital adoption that was projected to happen over several years has accelerated. And with its young, diverse and mobile-first population, and a host of talented start-ups, Southeast Asia can help shape the future of technology in Asia-Pacific and beyond. 


Like everywhere else in the world, Southeast Asia faces significant challenges in rebuilding from the pandemic—but there is such immense opportunity if we can help the region realise its potential. Working with our partners across the region, all of us at Google are committed to playing our part— fostering startups, expanding digital skills, and making the internet more helpful and accessible in every way we can. We’re ready to help build a strong, diverse and inclusive internet economy for every Southeast Asian.

A wave of change for Southeast Asia’s internet economy

Over the past five years, Southeast Asia’s internet economy has experienced tremendous growth and change. But what we’ve seen in 2020 marks the biggest shift yet, as the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report from Google, Temasek and Bain & Company shows.


The report—At Full Velocity: Resilient and Racing Ahead—outlines how Southeast Asians navigating the coronavirus pandemic are using the internet in more ways and on a larger scale than ever before. 


Since the beginning of the year, 40 million people in Southeast Asia have connected to the internet for the first time (compared to 10 million in 2019 and 100 million between 2015 and 2019). With technology providing vital access to online shopping, food, healthcare, education, finance and entertainment, more than one in every three digital service consumers started using a new type of online service due to COVID-19. And of those new digital consumers, nine out of 10 plan to keep using at least one digital service beyond the pandemic.

Summarising eConomy SEA 2020
10:25

Despite a global economic slowdown, and the severe impact on travel in particular, the gross merchandise value of the regional internet economy has held steady at an estimated $100 billion in 2020, and is expected to surpass $300 billion by 2025. 


Technology’s vital role during the crisis


Eight out of ten people across the region said technology helped them get through the virus—and they used the internet for a wide range of reasons. In most of the sectors we looked at, new users made up more than 30 percent of total, but education, groceries and loans saw the biggest jumps. 

New digital service consumers by sector

The pandemic also saw demand for (and access to) digital services continue to expand beyond Southeast Asia’s biggest cities. In Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, more than half the people new to digital services live in non-metropolitan areas. This is encouraging progress, given that the urban-rural digital divide is one of the main challenges the report has highlighted over recent years. 


The changing shape of the regional internet economy


Not surprisingly, e-commerce is growing faster than we could have imagined before the crisis: from $38 billion in value last year to $62 billion this year, and expected to reach $172 billion by 2025. Digital financial services are becoming more important, too: the average proportion of cash transactions declined from 48 percent of the total pre-COVID to 37 percent post-COVID. From here, the report finds that the annual value of total digital payment transactions across Southeast Asia will almost double to $1.2 trillion by 2025.
Digital financial service adoption

At the same time, new sectors are emerging, especially in education and health technology. 

At the peak of the pandemic, leading health apps were being used four times as much as they were before the pandemic and education technology app installations had increased three-fold.


Greater focus for businesses, cautious optimism for investors


Global uncertainty means Southeast Asia’s major technology companies are focusing on strengthening their business and becoming profitable, rather than on expanding into new areas. Funding for companies valued at more than $1 billion has dropped from $5.6 billion in 2019 to an estimated $3.5 billion in 2020. 


Overall, investors are cautiously optimistic. The number of deals has kept growing and we’re starting to see investors look towards new areas of opportunity in financial services, education and healthcare. For startups with strong ideas and business plans, there’s an available pool of capital worth almost $12 billion.

Investment funds available

Building for the opportunity ahead


COVID-19 has changed Southeast Asians’ daily lives in fundamental ways. The digital adoption that was projected to happen over several years has accelerated. And with its young, diverse and mobile-first population, and a host of talented start-ups, Southeast Asia can help shape the future of technology in Asia-Pacific and beyond. 


Like everywhere else in the world, Southeast Asia faces significant challenges in rebuilding from the pandemic—but there is such immense opportunity if we can help the region realise its potential. Working with our partners across the region, all of us at Google are committed to playing our part— fostering startups, expanding digital skills, and making the internet more helpful and accessible in every way we can. We’re ready to help build a strong, diverse and inclusive internet economy for every Southeast Asian.

A Google.org grant to help Southeast Asia’s businesses

Noraeri, the breadwinner of her family, runs Chu Su Mo: a shop selling traditional clothes to her local community in the Baan Huay e-Khang village of Chiangmai, Thailand. For years, trade has been steady but now, with coronavirus restrictions in place, she’s having to find new ways to run her business—experimenting with online advertising to reach more customers.


Chu So Mo is one of the 64 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Southeast Asia that have been affected by the pandemic. Not only are these businesses integral to their communities--providing vital services and supporting jobs in the local economy—they’re also critical to the region’s economic growth. We want to help them get the right digital knowledge so they, like Noraeri, can adapt and ultimately rebuild.  


Through a $3.3 million grant from Google.org, we’re providing funding to help The Asia Foundation support its nonprofit partners as they extend digital skills training to 200,000 people in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The grant will fund training in marginalized communities, including programs for women, underemployed young people, and those with disabilities.


With the backing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Coordinating Committee on MSMEs (ACCMSME)---and in partnership with organizations like Thai Fund Foundation in Thailand and Pusat Pengembagan Sumberdaya Wanita in Indonesia—The Asia Foundation’s programs will give business owners and workers in all 10 ASEAN countries the skills and tools they need for the internet economy. The programs will also provide specific guidance on how to withstand and recover from the economic impact of COVID-19—for example, by helping businesses understand the delivery options available in their area so they can ship their products to their customers no matter where they are.  


This new Google.org grant builds on our 2018 commitment to train three million SME workers across Southeast Asia.  It’s also part of our global efforts to support small businesses and others affected by COVID-19. In Southeast Asia in particular, the importance of digital skillscontinues to grow as millions of people gain access to the internet each year and traditional businesses move online. With the support of ACCMSME, The Asia Foundation and its partners, we hope more MSMEs will be able to succeed, grow, and create opportunity for their local economies and communities.