Boosting Quality And Effectivity Of Smes Cluster Through Investment-based Financial Assistance Approach In Asean

ASEAN which is filled by developing countries majorly, are vulnerable to crisis threats due to global economic sentiment. Therefore, the development of strong economic sectors is a necessity for countries in ASEAN. One of the most important economic sectors playing a major role in economic sustainability of developing countries is SMEs. Countries that had been hit by an economic crisis like Indonesia had proven the role of SMEs as the last weapon to end the crisis. The robust development of SMEs in ASEAN is a sign of a strong ASEAN economy realization. One of the hard challenges faced in the development of SMEs is the financial difficulties of business units. Financial aid which has only been dependent on government budget is one of the reasons for the sluggish evolvement of SMEs in the majority of developing countries in ASEAN. In this paper, we examine if financial assistance in terms of investment-based model performed by SMEs connected by clusters on B2B model could avoid financial constraint for the solution to the problem of SMEs financial difficulties. With this financial assistance model, there will be financial support between business units with a reciprocal relationship in a cluster. This method will encourage the growth of SME in productivity. The study shows the evidence of financial aid through investment-based indicates positive impact to strengthen the economy of ASEAN countries through SMEs. Therefore, our study recommends that investment-finance shaping has a good prospect for SMEs.