January 2019 UpdateMessage from the Director - Professor Siah Hwee Ang Welcome to the first newsletter of the Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence (SEA CAPE) in 2019. January saw SEA CAPE sending two groups of students to Southeast Asia markets for exposure to different business environments. You can read the Tertiary Market Immersion Programme (TMIP) and Business Challenge stories in this newsletter. We have also been busy finalising the itineraries of three ASEAN@50 fellows whom we are delighted to host throughout February. You are invited to a public lecture near you, please read on below for further details. We have had a great start to 2019 with these three programmes getting underway early in the year. Other business, education & public engagement programmes, such as the Market Readiness Programme, will be rolled out from March onwards. We look forward to your continued support for our activities in 2019. Tertiary Market Immersion Programme 2019Our group of 16 business-savvy tertiary students has just returned from Southeast Asia where they participated in the Tertiary Market Immersion Programme (TMIP). Led by SEA CAPE staff, the students visited Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore to learn about doing business in Southeast Asia and the opportunities and challenges that the region presents. Also guided virtually by academic mentors, the students worked in groups to develop business ideas in a number of themes and presented to an audience of business experts in Singapore at the end of their trip. Business Challenge 2019SEA CAPE partnered with Young Enterprise and the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Singapore again in January 2019 to create a week-long business challenge experience for ten entrepreneurial New Zealand secondary school students. These selected young Kiwi entrepreneurs were introduced to global, local and New Zealand businesses in Singapore, and many other exciting opportunities awaiting them in the region. The highlight was working in groups with local students to develop business ideas and pitch them to a panel of judges in a 'dragon’s den’ style. ASEAN@50 Fellows visit this monthTo celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, we’ve partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to bring out five leaders from ASEAN universities, research institutes and businesses. The first two leaders visited New Zealand at the end of last year and the remaining three are set to visit throughout February 2019. These are; Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak (Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), Dr Nguyen Duc Thanh (Vietnam National University) and Dr Aries Ayuson Arugay (Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines). They will be briefing academics, students, government officials and targeted industry representatives. We will also host a series of public seminars in the following locations: Hamilton – February 7th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm Auckland – February 13th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm Dunedin – February 14th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm Wellington – February 19th, 12:00 – 1:30 pm Auckland – February 21st, 4:00 - 5:30 pm |