Despite growing momentum behind ASEAN's clean energy transition, many cleantech innovators continue to face barriers that make it difficult to develop, commercialise, and scale their solutions. The Gender-Responsive Policy and Regulatory Recommendations for Strengthening Inclusive Cleantech Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (CIEE) in ASEAN report builds on the earlier CIEE analysis by identifying how these challenges are connected. At the foundation are persistent policy gaps, including the absence of a common definition of cleantech, fragmented regulations across ASEAN Member States, and uneven intellectual property protection. Together, these create uncertainty for innovators and investors and make it more difficult for cleantech solutions to move across borders.
These foundational gaps then affect the broader challenges within the ecosystem. Weak coordination between government institutions, unequal access to innovation infrastructure and financing, and the continued exclusion of women, youth, and underserved communities limit opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop and scale their innovations. Across all of these issues lies an overarching challenge, the lack of harmonised monitoring and evaluation framework and reliable data to track progress. Without consistent evidence on what works, governments face difficulties in refining policies, directing resources, and building investor confidence.
These recommendations are particularly important given ASEAN's large enterprise base of more than 70 million MSMEs. However, much of this sector consists of informal and necessity-driven businesses rather than innovation-led enterprises. Strengthening the cleantech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem therefore requires targeted policies and support mechanisms that go beyond conventional MSME development, enabling local innovators to develop practical solutions that contribute to the region's clean energy transition.
Developed under the Enhancement of Clean Energy Technology Ecosystem and Connectivity in ASEAN project, supported by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), the report translates policy findings into a set of gender-responsive recommendations that can help ASEAN Member States strengthen their cleantech ecosystems. The recommendations are informed not only by desk research but also by consultations with policymakers, start-up founders, investors, researchers, and ecosystem enablers through regional workshops, panel discussions, and the ASEAN Clean Tech Forum.
The report highlights four areas where action is needed. First, policy and regulatory frameworks need to become more coordinated across ASEAN. Differences in regulations, standards, certification processes, and even the definition of “startups” and "cleantech" create uncertainty for businesses seeking to expand across borders. Stronger regional coordination, better intellectual property protection, and a shared monitoring framework would help create a more predictable environment for innovation and investment.
Second, financing mechanisms need to better reflect how early-stage cleantech businesses grow. Many current incentives, such as tax holidays and investment allowances, are more suitable for established companies than for start-ups that are still developing their technologies and generating revenue. The report recommends expanding grants, blended finance, concessional financing, and other instruments that reduce investment risks while improving access to capital for young enterprises.
Third, ASEAN needs to invest in people alongside technology. Although several Member States have developed vibrant innovation ecosystems, opportunities remain uneven across the region. Cleantech entrepreneurs require more than business training. They also need technical knowledge in areas such as energy regulations, project financing, product certification, intellectual property, and carbon accounting. Regional accelerator programmes, stronger mentoring networks, and greater collaboration between countries can help close these gaps while allowing entrepreneurs from emerging ecosystems to benefit from more established innovation hubs.
Finally, the report stresses that gender inclusivity should become an integral part of ASEAN's cleantech agenda rather than a separate consideration. Women remain significantly underrepresented as founders, investors, and professionals in the energy sector, limiting both the diversity of ideas and the pool of talent available to drive innovation. Strengthening gender-responsive financing, improving the collection of sex-disaggregated data, and embedding inclusive practices within accelerator programmes can help ensure that more people have the opportunity to contribute to ASEAN's clean energy future.
Taken together, these recommendations recognise that building a stronger cleantech ecosystem requires more than individual policy measures. It calls for coordinated action that aligns regulations, improves access to finance, develops skilled talent, and creates opportunities for everyone to participate. As ASEAN works towards its energy transition goals under APAEC 2026-2030, strengthening the CIEE will not only support clean technology development but also help ensure that innovations created within the region can scale, compete, and contribute to a more secure, resilient, and sustainable energy future.
To read the full recommendation report, please click here.
