Format and Content

The 2024 ASEAN Circular Economy Forum, “Guiding the Transition – ASEAN and EU Policy and Business Approaches to Circular Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” will be organised as a one-day event with three side events. It will be held in conjunction with the SX Sustainability Exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand, scheduled from 27 September to 6 October at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. The Expo is an annual event organised by C-asean (https://www.c-asean.org/), a foundation with a mission to strengthen regional connectivity and serve as a driving force for sustainability. It aims to provide a dynamic networking platform for collaboration among business leaders and the younger generation across the ASEAN region. Having been held since 2020, in 2023, the event attracted 362,859 visitors and over 600 exhibitors from over 10 sectors.

Established as a pivotal event in ASEAN’s sustainability realm, the Expo is a fitting backdrop for the 2024 ASEAN Circular Economy Forum, providing a broader platform for showcasing sustainable innovations, technologies, and circular economy solutions from the EU and ASEAN. C-asean wants to strengthen the regional/international nature of the Expo, and its commitment to collaboration complements the 2024 ASEAN Circular Economy Forum’s goals of bringing together diverse stakeholders to drive sustainable development and circular economy practices in the ASEAN community. The Forum will help underscore and enhance the Expo’s visibility and emphasise the interconnectedness of sustainability initiatives and circular economy practices within the larger regional context. This synergy fosters a holistic approach to addressing environmental challenges and propels the forum towards becoming a pivotal catalyst for positive change in the ASEAN region. 

The 2024 ACEF will be a symposium where stakeholders and initiatives from around the ASEAN region and the EU will share experiences on how Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policies can engage the private sector in the transition to a circular economy. This broad theme can encompass financing, capacity building, technical standards, support for entrepreneurship, and public-private research and development (R&D) collaboration. On the 1 October, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, in collaboration with Denmark and Finland (under the Team Europe Initiative / TEI), will organise a pre-session focusing on the private sector, especially on circular startups. The event’s outcome would feed into a session on 2 October, which will discuss how governments can encourage circular innovation and entrepreneurship through national policies and ASEAN-level initiatives.

The SC Sustainability Expo will serve as a stage for the private sector and EU Businesses in the ASEAN region to showcase innovative and sustainable circular practices first-hand. The 2024 ACEF will provide the venue for the 2024 ASEAN Circular Economy Forum and inform businesses interested in exhibiting at the 2024 SX Sustainability Expo.

The ACEF2024 is organised by the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD), host of the ASEAN Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ACESP), C asean, SX Sustainability Expo, and the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI). Co-organised by Hanns Seidel Foundation, in collaboration with Finland (under the Team Europe Initiative / TEI). With the support of EU stakeholders under the umbrella of the Green Team Europe Initiative (GIZ Projects, Denmark, TAF GTEI)

Together, the ACEF and the SC Sustainability Expo will showcase existing or emerging promising practices in the AMS and key experiences from Europe, smoothing the two regions’ cooperation on innovative circular solutions.