eTrade for Women held its first eMasterclass for South-East Asia on 1, 8, and 15 October 2020. The eMasterclass was organized by UNCTAD with the collaboration of the eTrade for Women regional Advocate, Ms. Helianti Hilman, and benefitted from the contribution of regional experts from Endeavor, Foodizz, Accenture Indonesia, as well as eTrade for all partners such as the International Trade Centre. It also benefited from the financial support of the Governments of the Netherlands and Sweden.
In this session of fireside chat held by UNCTAD, Ms.Hilman shared her experience during digital transformation of Javara Indonesia in the last two years, escalating from conventional business to digital to overcome this pandemic situation. Ms. Hilman presented key aspects of her personal and professional journey as the Founder of Javara. She shared powerful learnings about how she embraced digital tools to transform a small business dedicated to selling traditional food products and generate business opportunities, while also creating value along the value chain by connecting farmers and local producers and their communities to domestic and regional markets.
You will hear about how women entrepreneurs are leading the digital transformation and creating opportunities for inclusive growth in South-East Asia. With the participation of Ms. Isabelle Durant, Deputy-Secretary General of UNCTAD .
You can watch the replay of the fireside chat here:
UNCTAD Fireside Chat with Helianti Hilman : E-trade for Women Advocate
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=719349925321375
Key takeaways from the session:
-The digital journey does not have to be an intimidating one, even for conventional/traditional businesses
-As a business manager, one needs to know where the strengths are, and surround oneself with the right experts, so as to be able to focus on own skills.
-One of the building blocks to succeed in the digital transformation is data management: being able to collect, store and analyze business data is key to unlock the growth potential. This also requires ensuring that the overall team is fully in line with adopting data-led practices.
-One of the successful features of digitalization was the adoption of a relatively simple digital solution: QR codes. Javara was able to showcase its customers the quality and traceability of its products while also reducing the costs related to information-sharing.
-It is important to remain true and loyal to the mission of your company. By promoting the food heritage of Indonesia in a sustainable and inclusive way, Helianti’s business is providing thousands of small producers with new income-generating activities.
