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ASEAN’s digital economy is booming — but how do we turn innovation into real impact?
We speak to Ahmad Azuar Zainuddin, CEO of Satu Creative, on building cross-border collaboration, empowering startups, and shaping a more connected ASEAN ecosystem.
We speak to Ahmad Azuar Zainuddin, CEO of Satu Creative, on building cross-border collaboration, empowering startups, and shaping a more connected ASEAN ecosystem.
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00:00As Southeast Asia's digital economy accelerates, the focus is no longer just on innovation for the sake of disruption,
00:07but on how ideas can translate into meaningful and measurable impact across the region.
00:13From startups to policymakers, the urgency now lies in building ecosystems that are not only dynamic, but deeply collaborative.
00:21Recently in Jakarta, a regional platform brought together founders, investors and government leaders
00:26to explore exactly that, how ASEAN can move from innovation to real-world impact.
00:32Programs like Creative Exchange Jakarta 2026 and Grill or Chill Jakarta 2026 are shaping conversations beyond theory into action.
00:41And joining us right now is Ahmad Azwar Zainuddin, Chief Executive Officer of Satu Creative, who led this initiative.
00:47I want to say thank you very much, Azwar.
00:49And congratulations, firstly, you've just been in Jakarta bringing together founders, investors and policymakers from across ASEAN.
00:56Firstly, what was the main objective behind this platform?
01:00Thank you, Nina.
01:02I think the idea for us is we've been working with startups looking to innovate for impact in Malaysia.
01:09And we feel that there are a lot of issues that we share together with our Indonesian counterpart.
01:14For example, effects of climate change.
01:16We're looking at inequality, food security and all that.
01:21So we felt that the time is right for there to be a platform where we can not only work
01:28in silo or work individually in our country,
01:30but looking at what we can learn from each other and perhaps from their STEM opportunities,
01:35not just for the founders and entrepreneurs themselves, but also within the ecosystem players on how we can collaborate
01:40and strengthen our ecosystem through a platform such as the Impact for Innovate Day that we did in Jakarta alongside
01:49the Creative Exchange as well as the Grill & Chill.
01:51And ASEAN is often described as a fast-growing innovation region.
01:55What makes this moment particularly important?
01:59I think it's critical because a lot of our startups are highly capable, both in Malaysia and Indonesia.
02:06I think the time is right for us to see collaboration between founders and ecosystem for us to, I guess,
02:14generate the parts that are greater than the sums.
02:17And I think at this, hence, the time is right.
02:20And, you know, I was looking at Jakarta, for instance.
02:22It's so near, I think, a flight from KL to Jakarta, it's only an hour and 40, I think, for
02:28parts of Indonesia, part of Malaysia.
02:29That's even further.
02:30And there's no reason for us with our common culture, common challenges, dynamic startups to start working together to create
02:38the impact that we are looking for.
02:41And prior to this, you have lighted that innovation in ASEAN is often built into constraint.
02:47What are the biggest challenges founders are facing today?
02:51I think a lot of the challenges is getting the product market fit, for instance, going to market.
02:59So a lot of this challenge is wayfinding and navigation.
03:02And this is where Satu Creative and other partners in the region are coming to play to assist and help
03:09founders to navigate this.
03:11The other challenge, of course, is the networking, the market access.
03:13And hence, the program that we did in Jakarta, we brought along venture capital, we brought along ecosystem parties, we
03:22brought along philanthropic bodies so that we can connect.
03:25I think it's something that we believe that needs to happen more organically.
03:30I think, for example, this is our second program in Jakarta over the span of less than a year.
03:38And hence, we feel that it actually helps.
03:42And this is from the feedback that we get from the parties that are involved as well.
03:46Participants that attended our first program last year was there again this year.
03:50So this is where we build a real strong relationship.
03:54And you cannot just meet one time.
03:56You just cannot meet at one event.
03:58I think between the event, a lot of things need to happen.
04:00And this is where we want to encourage the startups and the ecosystem to continue to see where the room
04:07for us to collaborate in a less mandated way, but more bottom up.
04:11And this is where organizations like ourselves and others are coming into fall.
04:17And when you talk about stronger ecosystem design, what does that actually look like on the ground, especially when it
04:22comes to collaboration across ASEAN?
04:26I think it's important to be biased towards action.
04:30A lot of times, there are a lot of speeches, there's a lot of talks, but there's not a lot
04:34of things materializing.
04:35I think it's important that we take risks.
04:37It's important that we experiment together, build together, co-design.
04:41And I think together with the higher level of collaborativeness, constant communication, I think it's important that we roll up
04:48our sleeves and actually work and creating things together.
04:51And I think we also need a tolerance for failure.
04:54And I think that's part of innovation and that needs to be embedded in, not just with founders, again, with
05:01the ecosystem to build things, to test and learn and iterate and see what works and double down on them.
05:08Once it works, if it doesn't work or it doesn't work as per the objective, I think there are room
05:13for us to pivot as well.
05:16And as well, ASEAN is often seen as separate markets.
05:19How important are partnerships like Malaysia and Indonesia is moving towards a more connected ecosystem?
05:28That's critical.
05:30That's a very good question, Anina.
05:31How I see it is, yes, we've been talking about this ASEAN and ASEAN is a great platform.
05:37But there are a lot of gaps in terms of harmonizing, in terms of how within the ASEAN countries or
05:44ASEAN entrepreneurs themselves can cross border.
05:48And this is where we see that they need to make it demystify a little bit.
05:53How do we make this easy?
05:54How do we make this happen?
05:56What are the business models?
05:58What are the entry points or beachheads that the entrepreneurs can see?
06:03And once we do that, I always look at this as, you know, when in the past, you know, you
06:10have people in the villages where these are the first to go to universities and they chart the pathways for
06:16others to do it.
06:16So we need to make this more normal.
06:19I think we look at within Malaysia, for instance, the export market is only there about 20% or less.
06:26So, again, how do you break that number?
06:29How do you grow that number?
06:30I think one way is to make it less, to remove the barriers, to make it less obstacles, and to
06:37make it easy, to demystify it.
06:39It should not be complex.
06:41But in order to do that, I think initiatives such as Creative Exchange, Grill & Chill, and others that other
06:48organizations are doing are very important for us to actually do a bottom-up approach in terms of how do
06:56we get more cross-border relationship.
06:58A lot of it, these days, it's a lot easier as well.
07:00You can communicate via LinkedIn.
07:02A lot of things can start online before you actually just stay into on-ground achievements.
07:09Definitely a lot of easier to stay connected nowadays.
07:12And what are some of the opportunities Zubillation startups have when expanding into markets like Indonesia?
07:20There's a lot of opportunities, as I mentioned.
07:23Malaysian startups that we've been seeing are highly innovative.
07:27I think they have a defensible product where, you know, they are highly for pattern and so on.
07:33So, in terms of this, the problems are similar.
07:36We have similar climbs.
07:38We have a similar economy.
07:40And the problem is a great place to start for all founders.
07:45And once you have a huge problem, the opportunities are there.
07:48But at the same time, broadly, I feel the government of both countries, I think, for instance, the trip that
07:54we had in Jakarta recently,
07:57we had amazing support from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs in Malaysia.
08:02And they've been great support, friends of us for the past one year now.
08:07And I'm sure Malaysians, with our Malaysian hospitality, equally will return the hospitality to our counterpart in Indonesia.
08:17I think a combination of huge problems, the combination of a government taking a mission economy approach,
08:23the opportunity is there.
08:25But where we need to go is ambition, where we need to go is ensuring that resources are there for
08:33our funders to capitalize and tap on these opportunities.
08:38And also, you signed an agreement with Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs.
08:44What does this collaboration aim to achieve and what can we expect to see next from this partnership?
08:52The agreement looks into where both the strength of the parties, Gerardus Park, as well as ourself and ComDigi, are
08:59looking at,
09:00I think, to encourage more collaboration, to run programs in the region.
09:05So what we're looking at is as well a more inclusive approach.
09:08Yes, we've done this in Jakarta.
09:10And a lot of programs in Malaysia is central around the economic center of Kelang Valley.
09:15So what we're looking at is from this agreement, perhaps the next step would be to look at programs outside
09:22of the major city centers,
09:24perhaps in Jakarta or in Kuching, Sarawak, or in East Coast of Malaysia,
09:30and looking at demystifying, again, a platform for us to learn from each other, look for opportunities to collaborate,
09:38share resources together within the two countries.
09:40And perhaps the next step as well is to look at other countries across ASEAN that would like to work
09:46alongside
09:47and looking for a partner that they can go on digitally together with.
09:52And how would you define an impact-driven startup today?
09:56And why is it important for innovation to deliver broader social and economic outcomes and not just business growth?
10:04Excellent.
10:04The problems in the world right now are humongous.
10:08I think we have to accept that the government can solve everything.
10:11So it's important for social enterprises, impact innovators to come to the fore as well
10:17and be part of the change that we've been waiting for.
10:21I think looking at this, how we look at impact-driven startups are those that balance between sustainability,
10:27viability of business, as well as generating impact that are meaningful.
10:31And I think in order to do this, we need to provide the right tools, the right framework mindset, as
10:37well as the resources
10:38so that more, especially young people, can come to the fore and support and be part of the solution of
10:48problems that we're facing.
10:52And maybe before we end this conversation, what is one key takeaway you hope stakeholders across Arsene will take from
11:00this
11:00and looking ahead, what needs to happen for Arsene to realise its full potential as an innovation region?
11:07Yeah, as I started earlier, I think we need to have a bias towards action.
11:11I think, yes, it's important to relay messages and all that, but it's important that we actually do something.
11:19I think what we want to inspire, we gave a small travel grant for our startups from Malaysia to go
11:26there
11:26and because we have a bit of means to do that, I think rather than thinking, oh, what are the
11:31cost benefits,
11:32what are the returns to this, I think it's important for us to have vision as well as bias towards
11:38action
11:38to make this idea of Connected ASEAN to an innovation for impact a reality.
11:46Nina.
11:47All right. Thank you, Azhar, for those insights.
11:49It's clear that ASEAN's strength lies not only in its rapid growth, but in its ability to collaborate across broader
11:55sectors and ideas.
11:56As the region navigates its next phase, the challenge will be ensuring that innovation delivers not just economic value,
12:03but also lasting social impact.
12:06That was Ahmad Azhar, Zainuddin, CEO of Satu Creative, sharing his perspective on building a more connected
12:12and impact-driven ASEAN innovation ecosystem.
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