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In August 2020, the Guidelines for the Promotion of Inclusive Business in ASEAN were endorsed at the 52nd ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting. They serve as a non-binding outline on how inclusive business can be supported at the national and regional level, and what institutional setup is required to do so. These Briefing Notes detail how the guidelines can be implemented in Malaysia.

Since 2017, when ASEAN leaders called for greater emphasis on creating an enabling environment for inclusive businesses, various governments in the region (including Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Viet Nam) have embarked on promoting IB, and an increasing number of companies – supported by impact investors – have established IB models.

In this context, the government of Malaysia has requested the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) to conduct this study to explore the relevance of inclusive business for Malaysia, analyse the status of inclusive businesses in Malaysia and assess the environment in which they operate, in order to provide recommendations, where relevant, for promoting inclusive businesses.