ASEAN BAC Chair for the Philippines and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion shared news that three homegrown companies bagged top awards at the ASEAN Business Awards. Home Healthlink Innovations and FELTA Multimedia Inc. won the top prizes in the SME Priority Sector – Healthcare and the SME Excellence in Innovation categories, respectively, while Esquire Financing bagged a special award for its role in MSME financing.
The annual ASEAN Business Awards recognizes outstanding and successful ASEAN enterprises that contribute to the region’s economic growth and prosperity. It is organized by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC).
Home Healthlink, FELTA Multimedia Inc. and Esquire Financing joined other winning SMEs from Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand. Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. Concepcion remarked that their victory demonstrates the innovation and passion of Filipino SMEs.
“There are 71 million MSMEs in the ASEAN region, accounting for almost all of the total establishments. In the Philippines, these small entrepreneurs also account for a large majority of the total enterprises. Considering their important role in job generation and in our collective economic recovery, we must continue to support them,” he said.
“Receiving the ASEAN Business Awards 2022 for SME Innovation is a validation of our emphasis on science, technology and innovation as a critical enabler for sustainable development particularly on economic growth, social development, human resource capital, technology-driven jobs revolution and environmental sustainability in ASEAN,“ said Mylene Abiva, President and CEO of FELTA Multi-Media. The company is a pioneer in robotics technology education in the country and has introduced new teaching methods, tools and curriculum in both public and private schools.
“Receiving this award has only given us more drive and inspiration to continue fulfilling our mission … of providing safe, convenient, responsive, cost-effective, and caring hospital-grade medical services from the comforts of one’s own home,” said Home Healthlink CEO Dr. Sheila Acosta. The company provides continuing home health care, including transitional, intermediate, health rehabilitation, wellness, standalone, and palliative care for house-bound patients.
Special Award winner Esquire Financing brought collateral-free loans for small businesses to the Philippines, becoming one of the country’s leading provider of loans to SMEs. Even during the pandemic, it continued lending to businesses, and has vowed to partner with the Philippine government to help businesses recover. Esquire also operates a non-profit microfinancing arm, Help Foundation.
Concepcion shared that the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurs Network, or AMEN, the Legacy Project of his Chairmanship of the ASEAN BAC, continues to be actively expanded and sustained across ASEAN. AMEN is a public-private partnership platform that aims to to support regional MSMEs through mentorship and training based on modules used by the Go Negosyo program Kapatid Mentor Microenterprises (KMME), which it conducts alongside the Department of Trade and Industry. Phase 1 of AMEN has been piloted in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Phase 2 is set to be implement in the whole region with the support of the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, which funded AMEN for a second time.
The ASEAN Business Awards promotes key sectors to promote the ASEAN in the world’s economy, and encourage regional cohesiveness and global competitiveness.
