APEC Project Database

Project Title

APEC Sustainable Social Entrepreneurship Training (ASSET 2026)

Project Year

2025

Project Number

HRDWG_104_2025A

Project Session

Session 1

Project Type

Standard

Project Status

Project in Implementation

Project No.

HRDWG_104_2025A

Project Title

APEC Sustainable Social Entrepreneurship Training (ASSET 2026)

Project Status

Project in Implementation

Fund Account

APEC Support Fund

Sub-fund

ASF: General Fund

Project Year

2025

Project Session

Session 1

APEC Funding

116,068

Co-funding Amount

60,000

Total Project Value

176,068

Sponsoring Forum

Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG)

Topics

Education; Human Resources Development; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Women's Economic Empowerment; Youth

Committee

SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)

Other Fora Involved

Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved

Proposing Economy(ies)

Korea

Co-Sponsoring Economies

China; Indonesia; Malaysia; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Chinese Taipei; Thailand

Expected Start Date

01/01/2026

Expected Completion Date

31/12/2026

Project Proponent Name 1

Kwanjung Kim

Job Title 1

Official

Organization 1

Ministry of Education

Telephone 1

+(82) 0537192694

Email 1

kkj0728@korea.kr

Project Proponent Name 2

Dasom Jang

Job Title 2

Program Specialist

Organization 2

Institute of APEC Collaborative Education (IACE)

Telephone 2

+(82) 0537192947

Email 2

jenniejang@iace.re.kr

Declaration

Kwanjung Kim

Project Summary

ASSET empowers youth adults aged 18 - 30 years old in the APEC region by enhancing their employment and entrepreneurial skills through job market analysis, business etiquette training, advanced workshops, and site visits. The program focuses on discovering job and startup opportunities, strengthening youth capabilities, and promoting sustainable economic growth.

The 3-day workshop includes

Day 1: Job Market Analysis & Opportunity Discovery, covering global trends and job search strategies.
Day 2: Entrepreneurial Skills Development, focusing on business etiquette, communication, and success stories.
Day 3: Alumni Advanced Training* & Exchange of information, featuring career tips, and industry tours.

* As this program is aligned with ASSET 2025 (HRDWG_204_2024A), we are planning to invite selected high-performing participants of ASSET 2025 as experts. They will deliver a lecture on their achievements, such as launching a social startup business or successfully securing employment.

The program will improve youth participation in the economy, fostering networking, and contribute to APEC's goal of inclusive growth. Participants will gain practical skills, build global connections, and enhance their career and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Relevance

Region

APEC is a diverse region consisting of economies with varying economic and social backgrounds, leading to differing challenges and opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship. In some economies, youth unemployment rates are high, while in others, the entrepreneurial environment is underdeveloped, limiting youth economic participation.

As highlighted in the October 2018 APEC publication by the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), “Best Practices of Youth Employment Policies in Selected APEC Economies,” the key challenges faced by youth in the APEC region include:

skills mismatches between labor supply and demand,
an increasing share of young people in poor-quality jobs,and
a growing number of youth not in employment, education, or training (NEETs). Therefore, strengthening the employment and entrepreneurship capabilities of youth has become an urgent priority.

Through our three-day workshop, participants will gain practical insights into securing quality jobs, understanding labor market demand, and preparing themselves with the skills necessary to respond effectively to evolving workforce needs.

Eligibility and Fund Priorities

ASF funding supports projects that address the capacity-building needs of APEC developing economies. This funding supports activities such as workshops aimed at helping developing economies obtain, share, strengthen and develop knowledge. Our program is specifically focused on providing capacity building for youths (youngadults aged 18 -30 years old) in developing economies, helping them acquire the skills and knowledge needed to be hired or establish enterprises. For the enhancement of women's leadership and capacity building in developing economies, preference will be given to students from APEC member economies. The focus will be on outreach to women-owned businesses. Connecting youth from the developing economies to the worksite would be beneficial in developing human capital and entrepreneurial capacity. Therefore, our program aligns perfectly with these capacity-building objectives of ASF fund and provides effective solutions tailored to the needs of APEC developing economies.

Capacity Building

We are planning to invite young adults aged 18 - 30 years old from each economy, including 11 travel eligible economies(Chile, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Peru, Russia, Thailand, and Viet Nam) As we’ll send invitation to 2 university students per economies, there will be 44 participants in total. During the three-day workshop, participants will enhance their employability and entrepreneurial skills, develop mock business plans, receive guidance from mentors, and refine their plans for a final presentation.

Priority will be given to those who can attend the program in person for full days throughout the duration. Preferred majors include education, business, and entrepreneurship-related fields. Youth(young adults aged 18 - 30 years old) from APEC economies are our prioritised target, and non-APEC economies who wish to participate are also very welcome.

Objectives

The main goal of this project is to empower youth in the APEC region by providing them with opportunities to analyze labor markets, receive business etiquette training, attend advanced entrepreneurship and employment workshops by industry mentors, and participate in field visits. Through these activities, we aim to discover new career and entrepreneurship opportunities, enhance youth capabilities, and promote sustainable economic growth in the region.

Alignment

Beneficiaries and Outputs

Output

1) 3-Day Workshop

A three-full day in-person workshop(7-8 hours per day) will be held in Korea, inviting particiapnts not only from travel eligible economies but also from a diverse range of APEC and non-APEC economies. The workshop will offer participants the opportunity to analyze the job market, learn essential business etiquette, and engage with mentors who are active professionals in their respective fields. This program aims to enhance the employability and entrepreneurial capabilities of young people across the region, ultimately contributing to sustainable growth within the APEC economies. A pre- and post-event survey will be conducted to compare participants' responses before and after the event, in order to assess how much their competencies related to employment and entrepreneurship have improved.

About site visit ;

The trip will take place at Heyground Seongsu Starting Point, located at 5, Ttukseom-ro 1na-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

The purpose of the trip is to visit a co-working space for social enterprises, explore various business environments, and engage in discussions and networking opportunities with active social enterprises.

Participants will deepen their understanding of the startup ecosystem, explore potential collaboration models, and gain insights that can help enhance the quality of their business plans.

By facilitating direct interaction with operating social enterprises, the trip supports the project’s aim to build practical knowledge, foster collaboration, and strengthen entrepreneurial readiness among participants.

The Project Overseer will arrange structured networking sessions and collaboration discussions with a diverse range of social enterprises to ensure meaningful engagement and maximize learning outcomes for all participants. Networking session refers to communication between participants and professionals from the social enterprise sector, and no match-making business activities will be conducted during the workshop.

2) Summary Report

We plan to prepare a program summary report as an APEC Publication, which will be at least 12 pages in length excluding annexes. The introduction will briefly outline the objectives and outcomes. Other sections will include program structure, details of the training workshop, key discussions and results from the training workshop, recommendations, participant reflections and feedback with conclusions.

Outcome

1) The overall enhancement of participants’ employability and entrepreneurship skills can be assessed. Growth in knowledge will be measured by comparing the results of the pre- and post- event surveys. Preparedness for their own careers as well as the ability to more effectively identifiy and seize opportunities within businesses will be developed too.

2) Beyond the direct global networking among the participants, they will be able to build and expand their networks based on the experience of managing various online platforms. The summary report will provide valuable insights to many people who are interested in strengthening employability and entrepreneurship skills, ultimately contributing to inclusive growth within the APEC region.

Beneficiaries

The primary beneficiaries of this project are young adults aged 18 - 30 years old who are interested in employment and entrepreneurship. These participants, with diverse domestic and cultural backgrounds, will benefit from mutual exchanges, global networking opportunities, and increased understanding of various industries.

Dissemination

The Summary Report, as an APEC Publication, will be made publicly available to all. This publication will be widely disseminated online rather than in print format.

Additionally, various job search and networking platforms such as LinkedIn will be actively utilized to maximize the personal networks of participants representing each member economy, thereby further amplifying the impact of the program.

Gender

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Documents folder.

Work Plan

Please see Concept Note in Supporting Documents folder.

Risks

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Documents folder.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Documents folder.

Linkages

As we plan to invite 11 travel-eligible economies, and all the opportunities are open to whole APEC economies and non-APEC economies, the engagement of various stakeholders is expected. In addition, we will invite expert speakers from relevant APEC sub-fora such as SMEWG and DESG, as well as international organizations, ABAC, UNESCO, etc.

Furthermore, this event is closely linked to the 2024 APEC-funded project, namely “APEC Sustainable Social Entrepreneurship Training (ASSET) (HRDWG_204_2024A).”

Firstly, as previously mentioned, selected alumni of the ASSET program will be invited to participate as experts. By sharing their real-life experiences in starting businesses or securing employment, they will provide valuable insights and guidance on how participants can effectively apply what they learn in this program to their professional lives.

Secondly, the event will adopt a similar operational model to ASSET. As a side event of AEMM, ASSET 2025 successfully invited policymakers from APEC member economies as well as representatives from relevant international organizations to observe and engage with the program. In the same spirit, ASSET 2026 also plans to invite stakeholders from related institutions and policymakers from APEC member economies to participate and explore collaboration opportunities.

Sustainability

To ensure the long-term impact of the program, continuous follow-up will be conducted through digital platforms to track participants’ post-event activities and career development. Participants will be encouraged to share the knowledge and skills they acquired during the workshop with their peers through informal dissemination sessions in their local communities or universities.

They will also be guided to share their reflections and feedback by posting on online platforms such as Padlet, allowing for public sharing of insights and promoting peer- to-peer learning beyond the program. A follow-up survey will be administered several months after the workshop to assess how participants have applied their learning and to gather feedback for further improvement.

This approach aims to create a ripple effect, expanding the program’s influence beyond the initial group of participants and fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and regional collaboration among APEC youth.

Direct Labour

Please see Project Proposal in Supporting Documents folder.

Are there any supporting document attached?

Yes

Project No.
Project Title
Project Status
Fund Account
Sub-fund
Project Year
Project Session
APEC Funding
Co-funding Amount
Total Project Value
Sponsoring Forum
Topics
Committee
Other Fora Involved
Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved
Proposing Economy(ies)
Co-Sponsoring Economies
Expected Start Date
Expected Completion Date
Project Proponent Name 1
Job Title 1
Organization 1
Telephone 1
Email 1
Project Proponent Name 2
Job Title 2
Organization 2
Telephone 2
Email 2
Declaration
Project Summary
Relevance
Objectives
Alignment
Beneficiaries and Outputs
Dissemination
Gender
Work Plan
Risks
Monitoring and Evaluation
Linkages
Sustainability
Direct Labour
Are there any supporting document attached?
hdFldAdmin
Project Number
Previous Fora
Secretariat Comments
Reprogramming Notes
Consolidated QAF
Endorsement By Fora
PD Sign Off
Batch
Forum Priority
Committee Ranking Category
Committee Priority
PDM Priority
Priority Within Funding Category
Monitoring Report Received
Completion Report Received
PMU Field 1
PMU Field 2
PMU Field 3
On Behalf Of
Proposal Status
Originating Sub-Forum
Approval Status
Attachments

Content Type: Standard Proposal