Through a new strategic partnership, the ASEAN Foundation and SAP SE will support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in building a cohesive regional community and deliver economic benefits by encouraging participation by youths and social entrepreneurs.
The collaboration will focus on the areas of education, volunteerism and entrepreneurship, with key initiatives to focus on driving digital literacy to support sustainable growth for the communities that the programs aim to benefit.
The partnership is part of SAP’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy to equip youths with skills to thrive in the digital economy, build capacity of innovative social enterprises, and build a skilled workforce for the IT sector with training and workforce development programs.
“A sustainable ASEAN community lies in the hands of ASEAN’s youth. I believe that our joint initiatives with SAP will increase the involvement of ASEAN youths in national and regional activities to give them an opportunity to actively contribute to the ASEAN community,” says Elaine Tan, the Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation.
The three initiatives align with five priority focus areas of the ASEAN Work Plan on Youth 2016-2020 which include youth entrepreneurship, youth employment, youth awareness, youth volunteerism and leadership, and youth resilience. In the education space, the ASEAN Data Science Explorers competition will bring together tertiary students from all 10 ASEAN member states to use the SAP BusinessObjects Cloud tool to find insights across six United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a regional final taking place in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Youth Volunteering Innovation Challenge (YVIC) in ASEAN will support young volunteers to drive social impact and sustainable development projects, supported by micro-grants and guidance from SAP employees. A further program will see SAP employees support 20 social enterprises across Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, through mentoring and pro bono consulting.
“ASEAN represents not just one economic community; it also represents one social community. As ASEAN celebrates 50 years of deepening unity and rising prosperity this year, we are excited with the opportunities that are in store in this growth frontier region,” said Scott Russell, president and managing director, SAP South East Asia.
“With almost half of the region’s population being under 30 years of age by 2020, there is a growing pool of talent that we can invest in and work with for a better future. Through our joint initiatives with ASEAN Foundation, we aim to help prepare young people for the digital economy and support ASEAN drive sustainable socio-economic growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
