Asean CSR

ASEAN CSR Network is proud to present the comprehensive report on financial inclusion for MSMEs, titled "Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in the ASEAN Economic Community."  

The focus of the report is on how ASEAN could build up the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, with greater financial and technical support to ensure their growth and prosperity.

The report covering 10 ASEAN Member States is a result of a 12-month study which began in September 2016. The study was jointly conducted by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), Oxfam, ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) and AVPN, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Government of Sweden.

The aim of the study is to comprehensively assess the opportunities and challenges faced by MSMEs in ASEAN – particularly those with inclusive and responsible business practices such as Social Enterprises (SEs) – with regards to access to finance, technical support, and an enabling environment for their sustainability and growth.

You may view the full report here.

Click here for a 6 page summary.

"ASEAN HAS enjoyed a relatively successful and prosperous first 50 years. A key milestone is the establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) which laid the foundation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community. With 2017 marking the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, it is apt to chart a roadmap of key issues of regional importance for the next five decades. To ensure continued success, ASEAN needs to further consolidate economic integration, capitalise on favourable demographic factors and channel the skills of today’s tech-savvy youth to harness the digital revolution."

To read the rest of the commentary, click here.

The Study assesses the experiences and mitigation strategies of foreign invested companies in Vietnam in relation to high risk business activities, which may be relevant to or indicative of corruption offences under Vietnamese law and applicable foreign laws. It aims to inform potential foreign investors of risk areas which they may face when doing business in Vietnam.

The study was produced by the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) with support from the ACN Small Grants Fund.

Click here for the English version.

Click here for the Vietnamese version.

This guidebook serves as a quick guide for cooperatives in pursuing a “green” approach in doing their business. It provides a basic understanding of the concept of green growth as explained in the context of cooperatives and presents a strategic process of incorporating green growth practices in their management and operations. It also contains examples of green growth practices that can be adopted by cooperatives and a methodical guide on prioritizing the practices.

The guidebook was produced with help from ACN's Small Grants Fund.

Click the picture to get the Guidebook/Toolkit.

Transparency International - Malaysia has published a new practical guide dedicated to SMEs to promote corrupt-free business environment. The handbook is available in Malay, English and Mandarin.

This guide was produced with the help of ACN's Small Grants Fund.

Click here for the guide in English.

Click here for the guide in Mandarin

Click here for the guide in Bahasa Melayu

This booklet was designed to support hoteliers to understand the meaning of adapting Human Rights principals into their daily business. It provides information on central aspects of responsible tourism as well as human rights and how they are connected with each other. The booklet gives examples of possible real life situations and recommendations on how to deal with them.

This booklet was produced by the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute, with aid from the ACN's Small Grant Fund.

Click the picture to view the report.

The paper aims to determine if SMEs in the Philippines are capable of improving their practices to become sustainable, and if these practises would enable them to compete in the global market given the ASEAN integration. The paper also aims to identify the constraints that SMEs face in engaging with CSR practices.

Click the image for the report.

This brochure was produced by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), with help from the ACN's Small Grants Fund. The brochure provides an introduction to Responsible Business Conduct and business and human rights. It also gives an over view of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These two leading mechanisms can promote responsible business conduct and be used to hold corporations to account for their actions. This is not easy to achieve. CCC recommends impacted communities, civil society and workers first try to engage directly with the company to resolve grievances and address adverse impacts.

The brochure can be downloaded in both English and Khmer.