ASEIC Global Eco-Innovation Forum, 14 – 15 November 2024, Ulsan Korea

ASEAN-BAC Malaysia’s Executive Director Jukhee Hong recently delivered a keynote speech at the ASEIC Global Eco-Innovation Forum in Ulsan, Korea. Her presentation, titled “Global Supply Chain and Climate Change Response for SMEs in the ASEM Region,” highlighted the crucial role of small and medium enterprises in building resilient, sustainable supply chains that adapt to climate challenges.

She presented on the trends impacting the global trade order: slowbalisation due to global shocks, trade conflicts and rising protectionism; and green transition, which are trends that led to trade diversion, diversification of production bases. These developments present both opportunities and risks for SMEs.

While SMEs can leverage on the nearshoring of global supply and value chains, and greater participation in the regional trade pacts, the greening of global supply chains is putting significant burden on businesses especially SMEs due to its complexity of disclosures and different standards.

One critical area to assist the SMEs is the need for the simplification and alignment of sustainability or ESG reporting standards at the national-, regional- and global-level. She calls for concerted multi-stakeholder efforts to address this challenge to support the SMEs in navigating the evolving landscape of the trading system.