The Southeast Asia Digital Economy Inclusion Forum will take place on December 15th of 2021 via Zoom (Time: 11:10 – 12:30 pm SGT). It is part of the Future City Summit, hosted by the Good City Foundation and co-hosted by SLUSH ASIA, and sponsored by Invest Hong Kong and Tsangs Group. In addition, the event is supported by key leaders in the industries such as Plug and Play Tech Centre, United Nations ESCAP, Asian Institute of Technology, SmallWorld Ventures, PearlPay, and CCEDucare. Startups that are looking to leverage a fast-growing market or corporations looking to expand need to start thinking seriously about opening operations in Southeast Asia.

By 2020, Southeast Asia has become the region throughout the Asia-Pacific region which had the highest internet penetration, in which 69% of the total Southeast Asian population used the internet. This is why many Korean businesses first look to expand into Southeast Asia. As South Korea has over a 99% household internet penetration, they have built their products or services for consumers with high internet access. However, the South Korean market has its limits. The Southeast Asian internet economy hit $105 billion in 2020. The rise is attributed to the coronavirus crisis that prompted stuck-at-home consumers to go online to shop, get food delivered at home and for entertainment purposes.    

Hold My Beer: A Better Way of Last Mile Digitalisation for the World’s Growth Engine

Hold My BeerAt the Southeast Asia Digital Economy Inclusion Forum, there will be a session called “Hold My Beer: A Better Way of Last Mile Digitalization for the World’s Growth Engine.” Since 69% of the total Southeast Asian population used the internet, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The bigger challenge for both the policymakers, technologists, and venture capitals is how to penetrate further to the last 31% of the region. The last 31% consists of populations in the suburban, rural areas, and disconnected islands. Some of the questions that will be talked about during the Hold My Beer session include:

  • What could be the inclusive strategic steps to ensure infrastructural accessibility in the underserved communities and regions? 
  • With the reference of economic transformation in East Asia with technology(such as China and South Korea), where would the economic motivation and incentives be for tech companies to consider the underserved as a “potential market”? 
  • What role do the governments and regulators play to accomplish the sustainable development agenda over digitalization with the market together? 

Slush, a global startup, and tech event that aims to build a worldwide startup community will be the co-host of this panel. The Southeast Asia Digital Economy Inclusion Forum sheds light on the conversation among the technology entrepreneurs, tech-savvy venture capitals, and industry experts to discuss the latest trend of digital economy development in major nations in Southeast Asia: The Philippines, Indonesia; uprising Cambodia and Thailand; and the shaken Myanmar. The session will last 80 minutes and will have speakers from top startup ecosystem builders in Southeast Asia.

Live polling would be conducted among the audience and delegates to engage instant technical response and development opinions. 

Proposed Keynote Speakers:

Southeast Asia Digital Economy Inclusion ForumPanel Opening Guest: 

  1. Mr. Jojo Flores, Founder of the Plug and Play Tech Centre | The Philippines 

Panelists:

  1. Mr. Spark Perreras, Founder and Group CEO of PearlPay Inc. | The Philippines 
  2. Mr. Rithy Thul, Co-Founder, and CEO of SmallWorld Venture | Cambodia 
  3. Dr. Naveed Anwar, Vice President for Knowledge Transfer at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
  4. Ms. Chit Aein Thu, Founder and Managing Director of CCEducare | Myanmar  

Moderator: 

  1. Mr. Matthew Perkins, Economic Affairs Officer, ICT, and Development Section of the UNESCAP | Thailand

Those interested in joining the event can do so via zoom. The event is free and the registration QR code can be found on the posters above. The code can be used for every session at the Southeast Asia Digital Economy Inclusion Forum. Also, make sure to attend Slush as it will be happening in 2021!

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