DAVAO CITY(October 10) — FOR a woman running a small business in Davao, breaking into an ASEAN market can sound bigger than her business itself. The challenge is not simply finding a buyer abroad — it is having the digital tools, financing, skills and cross-border connections to actually reach one.
That gap is at the heart of the push to bring more women-led businesses from outside the country’s major business centers into Southeast Asia’s expanding digital and green economy.
The issue will take center stage at the 2nd ASEAN Women Economic Summit (AWES) on Nov. 10 at Okada Manila, where business leaders will examine how women-led enterprises can benefit from deeper regional integration.
Organized by the Women’s Business Council Philippines (WomenBizPH) with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines, the summit carries the theme “Weaving the ASEAN Future: Women Driving Innovation, Integration, and Inclusion.”
For small businesses, however, joining the ASEAN market is not simply a matter of putting products online.
WomenBizPH President Rosemarie Bosch-Ong said women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium enterprises need an environment that allows them to trade across borders more easily and safely.
She cited the implementation of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) as an important development that could help businesses reach larger markets.
But entrepreneurs also need solutions to practical barriers such as cybersecurity, data protection, digital identity, predictable regulations and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
“For women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium enterprises, the digital economy presents both an opportunity to reach larger markets,” Bosch-Ong said.
WomenBizPH is already trying to build those connections through its Women Strong Network trade fairs in Davao, Cebu and Metro Manila, as well as efforts to introduce Filipino entrepreneurs to ASEAN Access and prepare them for regional markets.
For Mindanao’s women entrepreneurs, the Davao leg offers a concrete test of whether ASEAN integration can reach businesses beyond Metro Manila.
WomenBizPH Chairperson Rhoda Castro-Caliwara said the bigger challenge is turning the summit’s regional discussions into opportunities that entrepreneurs can actually use.
“The challenge will be translating the broad agenda into practical opportunities for women entrepreneurs, particularly those operating outside major business centers,” Castro-Caliwara said.
That means connecting women-led businesses to more than customers. They also need access to financing, digital infrastructure, skills, business networks and clear rules that can help them compete in regional markets.
The summit will also tackle the shift toward a greener economy, including energy cooperation, food security, the blue economy and climate-resilient value chains.
Other discussions will focus on financing innovation and digital transformation, small-business competitiveness and the future workforce, including women’s participation in STEM, digital entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, automation, remote work and lifelong learning.
Bosch-Ong said the agenda will also cover the care economy and health infrastructure, including the potential of the care sector to become a larger source of employment.
The summit will include business-to-business matching, a tourism program, the WomenBizPH Babae Awards and the Amazing Weaves Distinction Awards, recognizing women for leadership and contributions to communities and society.
Bosch-Ong described the summit as “genderless,” saying discussions on the care economy, technology, skills and infrastructure affect the wider economy, not women alone.
But for entrepreneurs outside the major business hubs, the real measure of ASEAN integration will be what happens after the summit.
Can a woman running a small business in Davao or another provincial community find an ASEAN buyer, secure financing, meet digital requirements and move her product across borders?
That is the gap WomenBizPH wants to address — turning ASEAN’s big economic agenda into opportunities that reach the small businesses and communities expected to drive the region’s next phase of growth.
