YES, we made it happen. During the Asean SME Showcase and Conference 2015 held in Kuala Lumpur, a select group of woman-entrepreneurs from eight countries made possible a collaboration of talent and resources now known as Great Women in Asean. With the help of United States Agency for International Development through its Asean Connectivity Through Trade and Investment (ACTI), Asean Women Entrepreneurs Network (AWEN) and SME Corp. of Malaysia, a pavilion was given to the Great Women project to showcase products from the initial group of seven countries and with Malaysia playing organizer and enabler. The two other countries, Brunei and Singapore will be following soon.
Over three days of networking with a purpose, the women collaborated to produce hybrids, products of Asean talent and innovation. As all the member-countries really share many common cultural traditions, from weaving textiles to producing coffee and tea, it was not so difficult to come up with a collection of products in the following categories: Jewelry, apparel, ladies accessories, lifestyle space and food health and Wellness.
The Malaysian entrepreneurs will soon follow up this showcase with another show in November where the Malaysian woman-entrepreneurs will add to the collections already started.
The questions poured in: How do we join? How do we become part of the Great Women platform? Where will the store be located? How do I become a supplier, a buyer?
The women definitely get the idea right away. After all, women make up more than 50 percent of the world’s consumers. And they make 80 percent of travel decisions, did you know that? I found a brochure of Grand Hyatt that says so. Women are major consumers, especially in travel, and that’s why Hyatt knew best and listened to the suggestions of women. Like details about pillows, the scent used in a room, the hotel shampoo or soap. Women do care about these details.
Some women brought their products to be presented to us, to see if it fits the criteria. Some first listened in the forum where US Ambassador to Asean Nina Hachigian and SME Corp. of Malaysia CEO Dato Hafsah Hashim talked about how the US and SME Corp. are supporting the movement. And where Great Women Philippines’s Jeannie Javelosa explained the history of the platform, which now is officially a regional platform.
It took a mere eight weeks for Jeannie and team to gather the products from known artisan star designers, like Burmese/Filipina WynnWynn Ong; Xenia Talar of Runa Indonesia; Mo Hom of Myanmar; Zarah Juan , Joanna Preysler for Tint, Camille Escudero from the Philippines and Ketsuphee Pitupan of Thailand. I handled the food and wellness products. We needed to coordinate with Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. All in a day’s work. The women were actively pushing toward our deadline which was to bring all the products to Kuala Lumpur for the show.
If all Asean countries worked this way in all industries, what a beautiful region we would live in and businesses would thrive in cooperation instead of in competition.
It is possible to work together, to establish a supply chain across countries, and we experienced it firsthand. In our Manila office, you could hear: “What did Myanmar say?” or “Has Indonesia submitted its details?” Then when we got to Kuala Lumpur, we checked attendance by country, hardly being able to spell each other’s real full names. Many went by nicknames, like “Pop,” “Nanzii,” and “Som.” Instead of long names found on e-mails, we worked just by being us.
One Business. One community. It is exciting and it is possible. I remember making a pitch in April last year in Hanoi: “We are 600 million consumers in Asean. Why should we compete? Why don’t we work together?” I asked the AWEN focal point persons. So, in that AWEN meeting, we planted the seed to work together.
In November 2014 we met more people in Bangkok and I moderated the session on how we could be suppliers and consumers all in one value chain, or supply chain. Four months later in March we met the women who were willing to be part of it. Almost 50 women listened as we explained the vision: One brand for all. One brand to compete for Asean. Great Women in Asean.
Last week in Kuala Lumpur we made it happen. Now, there is one brand for all Asean women entrepreneurs willing to be part of it. We thank AWEN, ACTI and USAID for allowing this to become reality. We planted the seed and now the next job is to roll it all over Asean.
Who knows, your next purchase may just be a product from Great Women?
Chit Juan is the president of the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines and the founder of ECHOstore sustainable lifestyle (www.echostore.ph). She is also the Philippines’s focal point in the Asean Women Entrepreneurs’ Network. You can find her on Linked In: Pacita Juan, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as @chitjuan.
This article reflects the author’s opinion and is not the official stand of the Business and Professional Women (BPW) Makati. Women Stepping Up is a rotating column of members of BPW Makati and comes out twice a month. For more information on BPW Makati, visit www.womensteppingup.org.