Building Digital Trust Capabilities for ASEAN SMEs Entering the Japan Market
Hybrid Zoom Webinar | Friday, 2 October 2026 | 13:00-15:00 JST
The ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC), in collaboration with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), will hold a webinar on “Building Digital Trust Capabilities for ASEAN SMEs Entering the Japan Market” on Friday, 2 October, 13:00-15:00 JST.
As digitalization and cross-border transactions continue to grow, SMEs increasingly need to understand cybersecurity expectations, data governance, digital trust, and the requirements of prospective business partners. The webinar responds to these challenges through practical learning, diagnostics, expert engagement, networking, and mentoring. It also aims to discuss SME-grounded insights that can contribute to future ASEAN–Japan dialogue and cooperation.
The webinar also features the launch of AJC and ASEAN-BAC’s joint programme, ASEAN-Japan SME Cybersecurity and Cross-border Market Expansion Workshop which will convene selected digital SMEs from the ASEAN Member States to strengthen their capacity and readiness for secure and trusted cross-border business with Japan, while helping them better understand the cybersecurity, digital governance, data management, and market-readiness considerations involved in expanding into the Japanese market.
The webinar will deep dive into the SME challenges in understanding the cybersecurity and digital market access in Japan, and bring together perspectives from industry practitioners, accelerator, and ecosystem enablers from the government and private sector.
Event Details
Date: Friday, 2 October 2026
Time: 13:00–15:00 Japan Time (GMT+9)
Venue: AJC ASEAN Hall, Tokyo / Hybrid Zoom Webinar (Online)
Format: Hybrid
Language: English with Japanese simultaneous interpretation
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/AJSME-DigitalTrust
Program
| Time | Item |
|---|---|
| 13:00–13:03 | Emcee Opening Ms. Nurlatifah Programme Associate, Research and Policy Advocacy ASEAN-Japan Centre |
| 13:04–13:06 | Opening Remarks Dr. Kunihiko HIRABAYASHI Secretary General, ASEAN-Japan Centre |
| 13:07–13:10 | Welcome Remarks Mission of Japan to ASEAN (TBC) |
| 13:11–13:15 | Special Message The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBC) |
| 13:16–13:30 | Program Introduction Dr. Katrina Navallo Head of Research and Policy Advocacy, AJC Results of the Pilot Survey on the ASEAN SME Digital Readiness for the Japan Market Mr. Rio Kiantara Head of Research and Policy, ASEAN-BAC |
| 13:31–13:45 | Keynote Speech: “Cybersecurity and Digital Trust — Opportunities for ASEAN SMEs” ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (TBC) |
| 13:46–14:35 | Panel discussion and open forum Moderator: Mr. Rifki Weno Executive Director, ASEAN-BAC Panelists: Mr. Hayato Kiriyama, CEO and Asia-Pacific Managing Director, Cyber Security Cloud (TBC) Dr. Randeep Kaur, Digital & AI Policy Economist, ERIA (TBC) Mr. Fauzi Fadillah, CEO, Founder, PLABS.ID 4. Dr. Daisuke Miyamoto, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan (TBC) |
| 14:36–14:40 | Closing remarks Mr. Rifki Weno Executive Director, ASEAN-BAC |
| 14:41-15:00 | Networking Session |
About the ASEAN–Japan SME Cybersecurity & Cross-border Market Expansion Workshop
The programme is designed for digitally active and growth-oriented ASEAN Member States’ SMEs seeking to enter, expand, or strengthen their engagement with the Japanese market. It addresses key areas including cybersecurity and digital-risk management, data governance, digital infrastructure, practical AI applications, market-entry strategy, trade and regulatory considerations, and ASEAN–Japan business collaboration.
Following the initial capacity-building phase, participants meeting the programme’s readiness criteria may progress to Phase 2, which provides more targeted mentoring, co-creation, networking, and opportunities to engage with Japanese business and technical experts.
Organized by:
ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC)
ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC)
For information on the AJC-ASEANBAC joint programme:
ASEAN–Japan SME Cybersecurity and Cross-border Market Expansion Workshop Programme
