March 2020 Update

Welcome to SEA CAPE’s latest update.

Last week, our first ASEAN Market Readiness Programme workshop kicked off in Auckland. The year 2020 should see us conducting more than 20 existing (ASEAN and Vietnam) and new workshops (e.g. Singapore/Malaysia) across regions in New Zealand.

January saw SEA CAPE sending a group of tertiary students from 7 New Zealand universities to Southeast Asia as part of our Tertiary Market Immersion Programme (TMIP). The students learned from and interacted with New Zealand and local government agencies and businesses in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Project work relating to these visits will be available in April.

We are also launching Toitoi journals. These journals showcase stories, poems and art about the vibrant cultures of Southeast Asia created by young writers and artists. This is just one of our programmes that are designed to build a future workforce that is engaged with and knowledgeable of our important Asia-Pacific neighbours.

Meanwhile, the application process for Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa, a programme dedicated to increasing Māori business capability and engagement in Vietnam, is opening soon. The arrival of COVID-19 has led to major disruptions to any cross-border engagement. This programme is currently scheduled for August 2020, provided that travel is deemed safe and appropriate.

SEA CAPE has been actively involved in building business capabilities through our workshops and other activities. In order to encourage and applaud businesses in the regions for their efforts, we will be presenting the Most Outstanding Regional Business Award at the ExportNZ ASB Wellington Export Awards to recognise the contribution made by regional exporters to their local economy in Wellington, Wairarapa and Manawatu.

Last but not least, until the disruptions associated with COVID-19 subside, SEA CAPE will be focusing on strengthening New Zealand capabilities and capacities to engage with Southeast Asia through other domestic activities, leaving immersion programmes as the second phase of this building block.

We look forward to your continued support for our activities in 2020.

- Siah Hwee Ang, Southeast Asia CAPE Director

Market Readiness Programme

Upcoming workshops in Auckland and the regions

Our Market Readiness Programme kicked off again this week with our first workshop of 2020 in Auckland. Attendees at the ASEAN workshop came from a wide variety of industries which made for some interesting group discussion and comparison of experiences.

The Market Readiness Programme boasts a suite of specialised workshops and allows attending businesses to absorb the knowledge of market expert academics while also networking and sharing experiences with other businesses working in or planning to work in the Southeast Asia region.

We have workshops coming up in Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga and Palmerston North in the next few months.

Find out more and register below.

Upcoming Workshops

TMIP 2020

Stakeholder events to launch group projects

Hard to believe it is almost two months since the TMIP 2020 group returned from a three-week market immersion programme to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Since their return, participants have been busy working on their group projects which will be launched at a series of stakeholder events in Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington.

Please get in touch if you would like to attend any of these evening events on April 15th, 16th and 17th respectively, where you can meet with some of the trip participants and hear about their experience and key observations firsthand.

In the meantime you can view the full trip summary and fantastic programme summary videos here.

Southeast Asia Special Issue

Children aged 5-14 years from around New Zealand submitted stories and pieces of art about real or imagined connections to a language, place, culture or event of Southeast Asia.

The result is a special journal to inspire young New Zealanders to connect with and gain understanding and knowledge of the countries of this region, and to celebrate the region's cultural and linguistic diversity.

Free copies of the journals are currently being delivered to every public library and primary and intermediate school in New Zealand.

We have held a small number of the Southeast Asia journals for our mailing list subscribers. If you are interested in receiving a copy, please email us at: seacape@vuw.ac.nz or simply reply to this email.

2020 Applications open soon!

Since 2018, SEA CAPE has worked with The University of Waikato to deliver Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa.

The main purpose of Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa is to increase Māori business capability and awareness while improving Māori business engagement in Southeast Asia. Each year's programme is developed to facilitate business engagement for Māori tertiary students and Māori businesses. This year's Vietnam programme will focus on cultural tourism.

Applications for Te Hononga-ā-Kiwa 2020 to Vietnam open very soon so keep an eye on our social media channels!

SEA CAPE Most Outstanding Regional Business Award

The ExportNZ ASB Wellington Export Awards are back for their fourth year and SEA CAPE is pleased to be an award sponsor this year.

The SEA CAPE Most Outstanding Regional Business award recognises the contribution made by a regional exporter to their local economy. Entries for the awards are open to exporters in Wellington, Wairarapa and Manawatu.

With four award categories, there is an award for exporters of all sizes. To grow your brand recognition, gain feedback from experts and review your progress, enter the awards before April 3rd.

To find out more about the awards and get involved, click here.

SEA CAPE Spotlight

Catching up with SEA CAPE friends and alumni

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, I'm Amanda Liddle, ExportNZ Executive Officer, Hawke’s Bay

What is your connection with SEA CAPE?
ExportNZ run market focused events around the country and connect businesses to the right people in the export ecosystem. We advocate for exporters at a national level and celebrate and inspire businesses through Export Awards, Go Global conference etc.
We partner with SEA CAPE to run Market Readiness Programme workshops on market entry, strategy and doing business in Southeast Asia.

Tell us about your favourite SEA CAPE memory?
We have been running the SEA CAPE Market Readiness Programme workshops for 18 months and every workshop has a different dynamic to it. I love to see fellow exporters interacting and sharing their experiences with one another. There is a camaraderie that evolves throughout the day when businesses realise they often have the same problems to solve.

If you could drop everything and travel to any Southeast Asian country right now, which one would you choose, and why?
After having extensively backpacked my way around most of Southeast Asia in my twenties I feel qualified enough (yet I admit it’s hardly intrepid) to choose Singapore as my drop everything and go country. It has so much to explore in such a small place, the history, the people, the architecture… oh and I love the weather. As a tourist I feel I have unfinished business there!

Spotlight archive

New to the SEA CAPE mailing list? You can now access our past updates here.