Taking our Market Readiness Programme to the regions

In partnership with Export New Zealand, we have been rolling out our Market Readiness Programme across the country. These sessions are aimed at exporters engaged, or looking to engage, in the Southeast Asian markets. They are a great opportunity for businesses to tap into expert market knowledge and insights and consider whether the region has the right market for them.

We’ve had great sessions in Palmerston North, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington with engaged participants who also benefit from sharing experiences with, and learning from, other participating businesses. We’ve also had input from guest speakers from other businesses in the region and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).

Look out for more sessions near you - Bay of Plenty (30 October), Hamilton (31 October), Auckland (7 November) and Christchurch (6 December). Please see here for more information.

Market Insights Programme wrapping up

The 2018 Market Insights Programme (MIP) is coming to an end with a closing session on 18 October. In the MIP, students have been collaborating with local businesses seeking export opportunities in Southeast Asia or Latin America markets. The students have spent 10 – 15 hours a fortnight over the course of the last 12 weeks working on a project that addresses a current or future need of their host business and have shared their specialised culture and market-specific insights and experience with them.

The students and businesses have also attended a series of great expert-led workshops on topics such as the New Zealand business environment, intercultural capability and branding & marketing. We are looking forward to the final event this week where students will present their final project. Look out for the winning student and prize in our next newsletter!

New Tertiary Immersion Programme launched

This month we launched our new Tertiary Market Immersion Programme (TMIP) available to tertiary students across the country. The programme is aimed at business-savvy students who will work in teams to develop a business concept and learn all about how business is done in Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

The immersion programme runs from 8-26 January 2019. There are 16 places available and applications close 5 November. For more information and details on how to apply, please see here. Please share this opportunity with students you think might be interested!

Accelerate Southeast Asia - Vietnam

We have partnered with the Asia New Zealand Foundation to introduce New Zealand emerging entrepreneurs to the opportunities in Southeast Asia through the Accelerate Southeast Asia programme. The 2018 programme will see a group of Māori business start-ups under the accelerator Kōkiri visiting Vietnam in November. Keep an eye out for updates in coming newsletters.

Māori business students gain market insight

Eight Māori business students went on the 2018 Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa study tour to Malaysia and Singapore in August in a SEA CAPE, University of Waikato partnership. The programme aims to increase Māori business capability and awareness, while improving business access and networking in Southeast Asia.

Massey students, Ezekiel Raui (Bachelor of Business student), Ariana Hadfield and Keenan Kaiwai (Bachelor of AgriCommerce students) all agreed it was an amazing experience. “We were able to see businesses from the inside, gaining specialist insight on a range of areas, including demand, international law and the marketing strategies being developed throughout the businesses,” Mr Kaiwai says. He also learned a lot about international business and the importance of agricommerce, which was relevant to his degree. “It’s shown me how my theory, learned here at Massey, applies in practice across a range of areas.”

Supporting learners of Bahasa Indonesia

The University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology are again jointly offering an introductory Bahasa Indonesia course to all adult learners. The course will run on Thursdays evenings at the AUT Indonesia Centre from 18 October for six weeks. We are pleased to once again offer a grant to anyone who completes the course – meaning you’ll only pay $50.

Feedback from students on the last course was very positive – it helped improve communication with their Indonesian colleagues through video conference and email. The course exceeded the expectations of one academic, working on a collaborative research project with colleagues in Indonesia. He was surprised at how quickly he could learn helpful expressions and conversation and felt very well prepared for his upcoming trip to Indonesia. Please see here for more information.

Thailand 4.0

In partnership with Export New Zealand and the Royal Thai Embassy in Wellington, we were very pleased to host Deputy Permanent Secretary Arthayudh Srisamoot in August.

Mr Srisamoot gave two public addresses in Wellington and Auckland on Thailand 4.0 – the Thai government’s new initiative to strengthen infrastructure development and drive a high-income economy through innovation, technology, R&D and creative thinking. The aim is to move Thailand to a more innovative, value-based economy through four main objectives: economic prosperity, social well-being, raising human values and environmental protection.

Mr Srisamoot also outlined the new Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) – a growth hub established by Thai government which will grow into a modern metropolitan, hub of trade and investment, centre for regional transportation and logistics and the most modern gateway to Asia.

COMING UP

First ASEAN@50 fellows to visit November/December 2018

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, we’ve partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to bring out several leaders from ASEAN universities, research institutes and businesses. In November and December, we will host a series of public seminars and briefings in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin featuring three of the fellows – you can read more about them here. Please look out for more details of these events in our next newsletter!

Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence

+64 4 463 6550
www.seacape.org.nz

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