The Indonesian Franchising and Licensing Society (WALI) successfully held an international-scale forum entitled ASEAN Franchise, License & Business Forum (AFLB) 2021 on Friday, 29th October 2021. The event which was held to coincide with WALI’s 16th anniversary is expected to be a momentum for the rise of the franchise and licensing business in ASEAN in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
The virtual event with the theme “ASEAN Business Trends 2022, During & Post Pandemic” became WALI’s biggest event this year, which was attended by at least 175 participants from 11 countries, namely; Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, China, Germany, Finland, Austria, Australia, and Indonesia. The event, which was attended by franchisors, licensors, consultants, entrepreneurs, and representatives from associations and the business community, is a prestigious event held by WALI, in addition to the Franchise & License Expo Indonesia (FLEI) which has become a routine activity every year.
Tri Raharjo, as the chairman of WALI who initiated the opening of the event, revealed that the franchise and licensing sector was the sector that was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this condition, all the business players need a strategy to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, including innovating and digitizing.
“As we all know, all business sectors need to adapt in marketing and product development. And of course, it can be done with innovation and digitalization because consumer behavior is always changing from time to time”, said Tri Raharjo.
The ASEAN Franchise, License & Business Forum 2021 activity was also attended by Mr. Oke Nurwan, Director General of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia as keynote speech and Mrs. Levita G Supit, as Deputy Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of Trade Development and Research, Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) as welcome speech.
Furthermore, descriptions and solutions to the development of the franchise and licensing business, through these activities WALI presented 6 competent resource persons from 6 countries, including; Burang Riyadi, Founder of Franchise Academy Indonesia, Albert Kong, Chairman of Asiawide Franchise Consultant, Dato Mike Loh, President of ASEAN Retail-Chain Franchise & Federation, Chris Lim, CEO of Francorp Philippines, Phi Van Nguyen, Board Member of the ASEAN Business Angel Alliance, Dr. Peerapong Kitivestpokawat, MBA, CFE, Chairman of Business Coach & Consulting Thailand.
Each of these speakers was given time to explain the conditions of the franchise and licensing business in their respective countries as well as to explain the steps or solutions taken to get out of the problems they were experiencing. But in essence, all of them are optimistic that the situation and conditions in their respective countries will improve soon, and the franchise business will grow again.
Before entering the international webinar, in that special moment, WALI also celebrated his 16th anniversary, which was marked by the cutting of the tumpeng (one of the traditional symbols in every celebration in Indonesia) by Tri Raharjo, accompanied by other WALI administrators, Yulia Astuti, Secretary-General, Sri Sumarni, General Treasurer, Adang Wijaya, The Chief Executive of the ASEAN Franchise, License & Business Forum 2021, Sito Wasito, Chair of the Membership Division of WALI and also attended by Susilowati Ningsih, a member of WALI and also representatives from the Partner Community.
On this occasion, Tri Raharjo said, WALI will continue to find the solutions for all entrepreneurs, especially franchise and license business players to be able to deal with the pandemic in Indonesia. WALI Optimistic in 2022, the Franchise and License Business will Grow.
In order for the franchise business to grow in 2022, all stakeholders must cooperate with each other to move investment in the franchise business, and maintain the performance of franchise outlets to survive, and adapt in marketing products in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The steps that can be taken are holding exhibitions both offline and virtual, business matching, business opportunity webinars, and joint movements to encourage investment in the franchise business.
Danny Anthonius as Chief International Relations of the Indonesian Franchising and Licensing Society (WALI), said that the franchise business can also be a solution for people who want to do business. For this reason, people must have a franchise business that has many advantages. First, join a business that is already successful. Second, the franchise brand is already known by the wider community. Third, franchises are supported by training, mentoring, and ongoing support. Fourth, having standard operating procedures in the business, making it easier to run a business. Danny Anthonius added “Running a franchise business also has a lower level of risk compared to starting your own business. Therefore, choosing a franchise business during the pandemic is an alternative solution for people who are going to do business.”
“We hope that the event with the theme “ASEAN Business Trends 2022, during & post Pandemic” which is a series of celebrations for the 16th WALI Anniversary can strengthen the friendship of franchise & license business community at the ASEAN level,” said Tri Raharjo (***)
The preceding was a press release from WALI. Their statements are their own.
