Innobiz Association Conducts Training Program for Timor-Leste Industrial Officials

Sharing Policies for Fostering SMEs Including Technology Innovation and Digital Transformation

The Innobiz Association (Korea Federation of Innovation-driven Small and Medium Businesses) announced on the 23rd that it conducted the "Capacity Building Training for Industrial Officials to Promote Small and Medium Enterprises in Timor-Leste" over a two-week period from August 9 to August 22.

This training was held as part of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)'s Global Training Program. It brought together 17 Timor-Leste government officials responsible for industrial policy, including Odete Belo, Director General of Manufacturing Industry at the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Timor-Leste. The program was organized to support the establishment of SME policies and strengthen industrial innovation capacity in anticipation of Timor-Leste's official entry into ASEAN in October 2025.

Attendees are taking a commemorative photo at the completion ceremony of the "Capacity Building Training for Industrial Officers to Promote Small and Medium Enterprises Development in Timor-Leste." InnoBiz Association

This project is an invitation training program to be implemented over three years, from 2026 to 2028. The annual plans include: ▲ Year 1 (2026), capacity building for SME development policy; ▲ Year 2 (2027), developing policies and strategies reflecting local conditions in Timor-Leste; and ▲ Year 3 (2028), nurturing talent for innovation and startup support.

The first-year training covered five major topics: ▲ the process of Korea's economic development and the role of SMEs, ▲ fostering policies for technology-driven SMEs, ▲ global and ASEAN SME policy environment, ▲ digital transformation (DX), and ▲ startup support policies.

The Timor-Leste delegation visited a total of seven institutions and companies, including the Seoul Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit and Expo, as well as TIPS Town. Based on the lectures and field visits, the participants developed an "SME Development Action Plan" for local application in Timor-Leste. This action plan will be submitted as a policy improvement task to the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Timor-Leste and will be further detailed in connection with the second- and third-year training programs.

Jung Kwangcheon, Chairman of the Innobiz Association, stated, "With Timor-Leste's accession to ASEAN, the scope of regional economic cooperation is expanding," and added, "We will build a foundation for collaboration between companies of our two countries by sharing Korea's SME policies and examples of nurturing technology innovation companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.