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VOICE OF ASEAN Bridges the Gap Between Southeast Asia and the World

2021-12-28 20:12

Kuala Lumpur, 30 December 2021

 

A Voice for Southeast Asians by Southeast Asians… This is the vision of Malaysian entrepreneur and business owner Dato’ Beatrice Nirmala for her latest venture - VOICE OF ASEAN.

 

Launched in August this year, VOICE OF ASEAN is a digital platform that is the first to address the gap of knowledge that much of the world has about Southeast Asia. It does this by showcasing regional business activities, government policies, corporate and government personalities, trends and heartland opinions from the ground.

 

VOICE OF ASEAN was set up to showcase the growing promise and potential of the Southeast Asia region. This is reflected in how it is forecast to become the third largest economy in the world, with a combined GDP of more than US$4.6 trillion, by 2030.

 

This growth can be attributed to several factors. These include the region’s young, vibrant and highly-skilled workforce as well as its increasingly digitalised economy, which is expected to reach a market value of US$300 billion.

 

Despite this, Dato’ Beatrice observed that there is much that is unknown and unreported about the region, especially in international media. And this drove her to start VOICE OF ASEAN.

 

“One thing my team and I noticed is that international news coverage on Southeast Asia is extremely limited. Most of the time, the news would be focused on negative issues such as political and social instability in the region. So we wanted to start something that will allow Southeast Asians to tell our stories, our narratives, to the wider world. We wanted to show what Southeast Asia is really about and transform people’s perspectives of our region,” she explains.

 

Guided by Experience

 

Transforming perspectives is something with which Dato’ Beatrice and her team at VOICE OF ASEAN are extremely familiar. It is what they have been doing for nearly 20 years through the boutique PR and Communications Agency – The IBR Asia Group, which Dato’ Beatrice founded and runs.

 

“Through The IBR Asia Group, particularly through our magazine International Business Review, we have helped more than a thousand government and corporate organisations, particularly in Malaysia, tell their stories to decision makers. This has enabled them to show what they are really about and amplify their authority,” she says.

 

With VOICE OF ASEAN, Dato’ Beatrice and her team are taking this tried and tested method to the wider Southeast Asia region. In doing so, she hopes to give businesses and governments there the opportunity to reach out to and connect with their peers within and outside Southeast Asia.

 

 

 “This decade will be the decade of Southeast Asia,” Dato’ Beatrice states, “and it is vital that our voices are heard and our message gets out there. I think Ramana Mallysetty – the founder and CEO of DigiFyde in Florida, USA, who is also a member of our Advisory Panel – said it best, and I quote,” 

 

‘Southeast Asia is largely still a mystery to the Western world. In America, we don’t know anything about other countries. The media presents a false representation of your part of the world so people here are generally hesitant to go into the ‘unknown’. VOICE OF ASEAN can undo this stereotyping.’

“With VOICE OF ASEAN, we aim to shed light on the ‘mystery’ that is Southeast Asia and showcase it to the rest of the world. I invite people and organisations from around the region to come work with us so that we can demonstrate that Southeast Asia is ripe, ready and prime for business!” Dato’ Beatrice exclaimed.

 

About VOICE OF ASEAN

 

VOICE OF ASEAN bridges the gap between governments and businesses in the region by showcasing regional business activities, government policies, corporate and government personalities, trends and heartland opinions from the ground, in the world's most promising and exciting economic hub. The platform also acts as a connecting bridge between other regions to Southeast Asia.

 

Interactive, engaging, and alive with actions and ideas from the region’s kingmakers, VOICE OF ASEAN is the first ever Pan ASEAN portal that provides a single-stop platform for corporate and government decision makers to connect with one another, build influence across ASEAN, and strengthen inter and intra-regional networks.

 

VOICE OF ASEAN will amplify the authority of regional leaders to the rest of the world and in doing so, bring the world ever so closer to a narrative that is defined by Southeast Asians, for Southeast Asians.

 

For more information, please visit

https://voiceofasean.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VOICEOFASEAN

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voice-of-asean/

 

Contact:

 Eddie Marius Ng

+603 7732 4886

contact@voiceofasean.com

Source: Voice of ASEAN