The 2027 YSEALI Regional Workshop: Securing Supply Chains

Project Background, Goals, and Objectives In an era of global disruption and rapid technological change, secure and resilient supply chains are more critical than ever. This workshop will bring together early-stage professionals from across Southeast Asia to explore how supply chains operate, the impact of advanced technologies, and the critical minerals that power modern economies. They will leave equipped with tools to increase advocacy efforts that support national-level policy, encouraging the expansion of U.S.- ASEAN commercial opportunities and prioritizing secure supply chains that strengthen U.S. - ASEAN economic and regional security. Workshop Objectives • Enhance understanding of supply chain fundamentals: Provide participants with a strong foundation in supply chain operations, including key actors, systems, and processes. • Identify and analyze supply chain risks: Equip participants to recognize vulnerabilities such as cyber threats, illegal transshipment, geopolitical risks, and industrial overcapacity. • Explore strategies for supply chain security and resilience: Introduce U.S. tools, frameworks, and best practices for strengthening supply chain resilience, including intellectual property protection, export controls, taxation, cybersecurity, and cross-border data flows. • Introduce emerging technologies in trade and logistics: Familiarize participants with U.S.-led innovations such as digital tracking, blockchain, and artificial intelligence and their applications in improving supply chain security and efficiency. • Highlight the importance of critical and rare earth minerals: Demonstrate how these minerals underpin advanced technologies and essential products, and how diversified processing and refining capabilities contribute to American and Southeast Asian prosperity and security. • Foster regional collaboration and dialogue: Encourage early-stage professionals across Southeast Asia to share perspectives, develop joint strategies, and explore policy recommendations. • Develop practical regional solutions: Engage participants in simulations and group activities that apply workshop concepts to real-world supply chain challenges, drawing on expertise from U.S. industry partners and case studies. • Encourage participant-led innovation and action: Organize a business incubator competition that provides seed funding to innovative projects and initiatives that strengthen secure, resilient, and fair supply chains while expanding opportunities for U.S. trade, investment, and commercial partnerships across the ASEAN region. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Surabaya, Indonesia, offer complementary, yet distinct, expertise that uniquely positions each location to host specialized workshop activities. Participants will engage in programming at both sites—beginning in Vietnam and concluding in Indonesia—gaining a rare, firsthand understanding of regional supply chain dynamics, economic priorities, and cross-border challenges. This immersive experience will equip participants with the broader regional perspective necessary to make informed decisions within the ASEAN context. Ho Chi Minh City: ● Supply Chain Challenge Simulation: A team-based exercise where participants move goods from production to delivery while responding to realistic disruptions and crises. ● Expert Talks: Sessions with industry and policy experts on current trends, risks, and opportunities in supply chain security, followed by Q&A discussions. ● Case Study Lab – “When Supply Chains Break”: Participants analyze real-world supply chain disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and propose resilience strategies. ● Regional Dialogue Roundtable: Interactive discussions where participants share country perspectives, regional challenges, and opportunities for cross-border cooperation. ● Site Visits: Tours of ports and/or technology and manufacturing hubs in Ho Chi Minh City to examine logistics operations and technological innovation firsthand. Surabaya: ● Cybe

Eligible Applicants The following organizations are eligible to apply:● Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations● Public and private educational institutions● Individuals● Public International Organizations and Governmental institutionsFor-profit entities, even those that may fall into the categories listed above, are not eligible to apply for this NOFO