In its second year of existence, ASEAN UP sticks to its purpose with the recent publication of a 200th resource for business in Southeast Asia. Aiming at becoming the platform for business of Southeast Asia, we would like to sum up what’s been done, what’s coming next and, maybe, also welcome your ideas.
Milestone: 200 ASEAN business resources
It has been a little more than one year since ASEAN UP went public, and it now hosts 200 business resources on Southeast Asia and each of its ten member countries. We hope they have been and will continue to be useful to you.
As you will have noticed these resources come from various international and local publishers, together with resources that we produced ourselves. They were selected and produced with the single goal of providing value, tips, information, influencer reviews or tools that we think can help some (or many) in their daily business activities.
Popular resources
In this series of 200 resources here are some highlights of the the ones that have been particularly well welcomed by our audience and social community:
Information on the ASEAN Economic Community to be created at the end of 2015
- Benefits of the ASEAN Economic Community
- Perspectives on the ASEAN Economic Community
- Opportunities of the ASEAN Economic Community
Tips for doing business in ASEAN
- 3 trends for business success in Southeast Asia
- How to define a strategy for business in ASEAN
- Free-Trade Agreements use in Southeast Asia
Top bloggers of individual Southeast Asian countries
- 10 top bloggers from Singapore
- 10 top bloggers from Malaysia
- 10 top bloggers from the Philippines
- 10 top bloggers from Indonesia
- 10 top bloggers from Thailand
Information on particular industries of Southeast Asia
- World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia
- Overview of e-commerce in Southeast Asia
- Venture Capital in Southeast Asia
Salary guides of some individual ASEAN countries
Southeast Asia directory
Aside from the business resources and news, ASEAN UP has been hosting a business directory for Southeast Asia since its creation. It has met a positive return too, with almost 50 websites registered.
Many websites submitted were not accepted though, as they do not comply with our quality requirements. These requirements are nothing really drastic, they are just here to ensure that only real and legitimate businesses based in Southeast Asia are accepted, and that their description is useful to others.
The low acceptance rate in the directory (<20%) is due to a large number of poor submissions or websites that do not comply with these simple requirements, either because they look dubious, incomplete or because they are not based or actively servicing any Southeast Asian country.
Business events in Southeast Asia
Another tool that was implemented more recently and received a very positive welcome, the calendar for business events in Southeast Asia allows anyone to publish a business event in Southeast Asia.
Many great events were published by very high profile organizers, such as The Economist, The Founder Institute or the European Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia, so do not forget to check our “Events” page for more great events coming soon.
Looking forward
In the months ahead more business resources will continue to be added. More new tools will also see light on ASEAN UP, such as email submissions for the newsletter which will allow anyone to receive the latest resources and news directly into their inbox. Do not forget to follow us on your favorite social media not to miss the latest.
There are many other tools that can be implemented on ASEAN UP to help the business community of Southeast Asia:
- improved categorization and structuring of resources by country and/or by industry to make it easier for everyone to find what they look for,
- social networking and forums to help the Southeast Asian business community share and get in touch more easiy,
- user-generated business reviews to help professionals and potential customers find the right providers or partners in Southeast Asia,
- classified business ads and job boards to publish announcements and ease the process of finding the right people or the right thing in the region.
These and many more ideas and tools will be added to ASEAN UP to help you do business in ASEAN, whatever your business is and wherever you are. We are however not sure what new functionnalities should be implemented first. That’s why we thought maybe you could give us your thoughts on this.
What would be more useful to you? How can we help you further? your company and colleagues? your business and industry? your country and how you relate to the other countries? We would be delighted if you could share some of your ideas with us in the comments. Thanks!