Manila, 23 September 2026: ERIA, together with the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED) of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), held a focus group discussion (FGD) to validate the findings of a feasibility study on the establishment of an ASEAN Centre of Excellence for MSMEs (ACE-MSMEs). The workshop took place at the Negosyo Center Conference Room at the DTI Office, with support from the Canada Mission to ASEAN.

The FGD was organised in two sessions. The first focused on validating the problems, gaps, and institutional and operational challenges facing ASEAN MSMEs. The second examined the proposed centre’s institutional roles, governance and sustainability, as well as its implications and safeguards.

Participants included representatives of ASEAN Member States through the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME), the ASEAN Secretariat and the Canada Mission to ASEAN, as well as MSME ecosystem actors, including the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), UKM Center Universitas Indonesia, and enterprises from across ASEAN Member States.

Opening the workshop, Assistant Secretary Grace Falgui-Baluyan of DTI highlighted that the proposed centre should serve as a trusted gateway to existing ASEAN programmes, helping MSMEs overcome barriers to information, markets, finance, technology, and capacity building.

Ms Anna Maria Rosario Robeniol, Senior Policy Fellow at ERIA, emphasised that ACE-MSMEs could help bridge ASEAN policy and enterprise-level impact. She noted that the objective should not be to create a sophisticated structure or operate numerous programmes, but to help MSMEs access knowledge and expertise, adopt technology, improve productivity, and connect with new markets and regional networks.

Presenting the preliminary study findings, Dr Francis M. Quimba, Senior Research Fellow at PIDS, noted that ASEAN already has an extensive MSME support ecosystem, with the main gaps lying in awareness, access, co-ordination, and follow-through rather than in the absence of programmes. The study identifies a potential role for ACE-MSMEs in addressing these gaps through functions such as assisted implementation, cross-border referral and matching, regional accreditation, and common measurement, while complementing rather than duplicating existing mechanisms. At this stage, the findings support further validation and detailed design, while strengthening existing mechanisms remains an option under consideration.

Closing the workshop, Dr Dionisius Narjoko, Senior Economist at ERIA, reflected that the key constraint facing ASEAN MSME support is not the absence of programmes, but the gap between MSMEs learning about available support and actually accessing and benefiting from it. He noted that ASEAN’s regional value-added may therefore lie in better connecting, curating, and following through on existing mechanisms, rather than creating new ones.

Dr Narjoko added that any new arrangement should clearly address this gap. He also reaffirmed that the study remains non-binding, and that national ownership and non-duplication will remain key safeguards as the study moves forward.