Mediaboss Marketing

A business support programme that seeks to promote Southeast Asia as a business destination for SMEs from across the European Union

Malaysia, Nov 2: The European Union is currently on a mission to promote ASEAN to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in its member countries. Their first stop in the process will be in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, with an emphasis on clean technology.

Calling the mission the EU Business Avenues, the Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Malaysia H.E Luc Vandebon said that ASEAN was chosen because of its robust economy.

We have chosen to focus on this region, and clean technology in particular, because robust economic development goes hand-in-hand with a heightened demand for energy, reasoned Vandebon.

The EU Business Avenues provides a platform for businesses to build new networks and partnerships, leverage unique technology offerings and functional solutions that will help them maximise opportunities in dynamic local and regional markets, he further added.

He opined that as economies in ASEAN continue to grow, the region is investing in the sustainability of its development, from managing energy and resource-usage to planning for urban expansion while limiting environmental pressures.

This emphasis on sustainability is reflected in the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), which aims to raise the proportion of renewable energy used in the ASEAN region to 15% by 2015, he said.

Moreover, over the next decade, ASEAN promises to replicate the success witnessed in the rest of Asia, where clean-tech firms have reported a combined growth rate of nearly 13% per year from 2005 to 2011, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, claimed Vandebon.

When queried on the type of expertise and knowledge that the SMEs from the EU would bring with them that could benefit Malaysia, he said, Clean technologies, namely green, sustainable products, services and processes, encompass a wide range of businesses, including those specialising in renewable energy, energy efficiency, pollution-reduction and recycling.

The SMEs that have been selected to travel to Malaysia are amongst the best the EU has to offer in the field of clean-tech. They will display a wide range of leading and functional solutions that respond to diverse business needs.

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Bridging European and Malaysian SMEs