ASEAN Studies Center UGM held a two-day workshop on the marketing strategy of SMEs in the ASEAN Economic Community, titled “Championing Your Business in ASEAN Community”. The marketing strategy is the main topic due to the assessment and research of ASEAN Studies Center UGM in 2014 regarding the readiness of SMEs in facing the ASEAN regional markets, marketing became one of the items that need to be prepared in facing ASEAN Economic Community. As a vital consequence of the free market at the regional level, Indonesia will inevitably to be directly involved in trading activities. Problems arise when each country will be connected to each other with the different business conditions in accordance with their respective domestic markets. Great expectations in the conduct of this workshop is to array SMEs in Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta to be better prepared to interactThis workshop invited several SMEs and relevant stakeholders in Yogyakarta. High enthusiasm comes from the business since some of them have just heard of adequate information about the AEC. The information comes from the speakers who were invited by ASEAN Studies Center UGM, namely Dr. Poppy S. Winanti (lecturer of International Relations UGM and Director of the Center for World Trade Studies), Endo Anugrah (Head of Partners Section for European and African, Sub ASEAN Dialogue Partners II, Ministry of Trade of Indonesia), Widya Paramita, M.Sc. (lecturer of Faculty of Economics and Business UGM), Timbul Raharjo (Entrepreneur and Chairman ASMINDO DIY), Dina W. Kariodimedjo (Faculty of Law Lecturer and Researcher at PSPD UGM), Ferdi Febianno Aggriawan, S. IP (Digital Manager Group M), Andin Rahmana (Digital Marketing Swaragama Group), and Arief Budiman (Eureka Group)
Material collaboration delivered by the speakers was preferred by SMEs in Yogyakarta since able to provide the things theoretically and practically. Departing from the understanding of what the ASEAN Community and the AEC in 2015 are, the workshop participants acknowledged that they just heard of these agendas, and assessing their business as far from the preparation in facing the AEC. However, several SMEs have prepared themselves by creating profiles on social media, and even integrate its business with the search features in Google and Google+. Through this workshop, ASEAN Studies Center UGM succeeded in forming a group using one of the chat application platform with the aim of integrating SMEs, in which they can exchange opinions and share information.
Head of the ASEAN Studies Center, Drs. Dafri Agussalim, M.A. said that the workshop can be used as a working platform or alternative strategies in preparing domestic elements were deemed less if it is associated with the process towards the ASEAN Economic Community. He underlined that the spirit of the business comes from the motivation and knowledge exchange among scientific experts, marketing, and business people. Reconciling these actors will certainly produce positive collaboration.
The workshop ended with a group photo of the invited SMEs, the organizers from the ASEAN Studies Center UGM, and the speaker in the last session, Arief Budiman of Eureka Group.
