Brunei companies keen on doing business regionally are invited to register on the newly launched ASEAN Access website, which enables businesses to browse a database of ASEAN trade-related service providers and access information on doing business within the 10 member countries.
The ASEAN Access is billed as the “first stop service centre” for those looking to do business in ASEAN and beyond, with the service providers and businesses listed on the website validated by the respective national business organisations from member countries.
The website is an initiative of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and seeks to bring together service providers that facilitate trade in different areas including distribution, transportation and logistics, market research, intellectual properties and laws and regulations.
The objective of the website is to facilitate more trade amongst ASEAN countries, which accounted for 22.5% of total trade conducted by the region in 2019.
Businesses must register on the website for full functionality, which also includes information on ASEAN focal points, trade requirements, market information and industry sector briefs. Business matching services are also scheduled to be available by the end of 2021.
For importers, distributors, and agents, the website is another channel to find new products and a viable replacement for trade shows which have been curbed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The website is also a way for buyers to be exposed to new products from other countries in ASEAN.
Chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Yang Berhormat Siti Rozaimeriyanty Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abdul Rahman said that the website is part of a wider push from ASEAN to stimulate trade and economic growth admist the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We should address the need to enhance business to business and people to people interaction through effective engagement and connectivity as our central purpose of recovery efforts must be to serve the needs of the community,” she said during the virtual launch hosted in Bangkok, Thailand.
