By Josephine Romero, Senior Adviser for Digital and AI, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Philippines
At a glance
- AI skilling is a shared priority across stakeholders. MSMEs need coordinated support from governments, industry, and partners to move beyond basic digital literacy towards practical AI adoption.
- Public–private collaboration is central to MSME development. Initiatives like AMEN and Go Negosyo show that partnerships strengthen training, mentorship, and digital capability-building at scale.
- ASEAN must shift from digital transformation to AI adoption. The focus is now on enabling MSMEs to responsibly integrate AI into operations in ways that improve productivity and competitiveness.
Share this insight
Since 2017, the ASEAN-BAC, through the legacy initiative of ASEAN-BAC Philippines, has been advancing the capacity of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the ASEAN Mentorship Entrepreneurs Network (AMEN). The programme has focused on strengthening enterprise readiness by skilling them across key areas such as business development, competitiveness, and digitalisation.
Meeting the Emerging Challenges of AI Skilling
Today, as AI confronts and reshapes nearly every aspect of economic and social life, the challenge of upskilling MSMEs has become more complex and become way different from what we are used to, requiring not only traditional digital literacy but also the ability to understand, adopt, and responsibly apply AI-driven tools.
This evolving landscape calls for renewed collaboration. Through partnerships with the Tech for Good Institute and other stakeholders, ASEAN-BAC aims to take this opportunity to better understand the specific challenges, barriers, and opportunities associated with better enabling AI skilling for MSMEs in the region.
Why Public-Private Partnerships Matter
In the Philippines, public-private partnerships have been instrumental in advancing MSME development. Initiatives such as the Go Negosyo Act have enabled stronger private sector participation in entrepreneurship and capacity-building programmes, including those related to digitalisation.
This collaborative model has proven effective in training MSMEs and is increasingly being shared across ASEAN member states participating in AMEN. It demonstrated that addressing complex challenges such as AI skilling requires coordinated action between the government and private sector.
Co-Creating Practical Solutions for MSMEs
This focus group discussion will also serve as a platform for co-creating actionable recommendations. The aim is to gather insights from government, industry, and ecosystem partners on how best to support MSMEs in navigating AI-driven change.
Launch of AMEN 2.0
As part of the Philippines’ current chairship, AMEN 2.0 will be launched as an enhanced version of the mentorship programme originally established in 2017.
AMEN 2.0 expands its focus beyond digital transformation to emphasise digital adoption, with a strong focus on AI. The objective is to ensure that AI is not treated as a passing trend by MSMEs, but is meaningfully and responsibly integrated into business operations, thereby enhancing productivity among workers.
Turning Insights into Policy Action
The insights gathered from the focus group discussion will be systematically consolidated and analysed to identify key gaps, enabling conditions, and priority interventions for MSME AI skilling. These findings will be translated into concrete policy recommendations to support ASEAN-level efforts in strengthening MSME digital readiness and responsible AI adoption.
Jopin notes that the final outputs will be presented to relevant stakeholders and policymakers to inform regional coordination and programme design.
