November 2019 UpdateKia ora koutou katoa and welcome to SEA CAPE’s November update. My name is Laura Sessions, and I’m very pleased to be SEA CAPE’s new Deputy Director. Over the last month, I’ve enjoyed meeting many of our consortium partners, colleagues and stakeholders. If we haven’t met, please get in touch! For businesses, November brings our final three Market Readiness Programmes of the year. If you are thinking about exporting to Vietnam, you’ll definitely want to join us for one of them. If you can’t squeeze it in this year, don’t worry – we’ll be bringing you more of our suite of popular workshops across New Zealand in 2020. We also have some exciting news for tourism businesses looking to improve their customer service with visitors from Southeast Asia. Beta testing is now underway for an innovative new digital platform called Cultural Acumen Tourism Training. We had a sneak preview last week and it’s a really interactive and practical tool with heaps of tips, tricks and advice from other business owners. The platform will be live next year, and we will keep you updated on the progress in the New Year. I’m looking forward to joining 16 of New Zealand’s best and brightest tertiary students in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for the Tertiary Market Immersion Programme. The business programme will help the students to refine their projects on topics aligned to New Zealand’s interests. Thank you all for your ongoing support for SEA CAPE. - Dr Laura Sessions, Southeast Asia CAPE Deputy Director Market Readiness Programme (MRP)Last workshops of 2019Our suite of three specialised Market Readiness workshops has been offered across the regions throughout 2019. These one-day workshops provide businesses with the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of expert academics and to share experiences with other businesses working in or planning to work in the region. There are just three workshops remaining in 2019 - the specialised Vietnam workshop takes place in Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Wellington this month. There is no fee to participate in the programme and there are currently still spaces remaining. Tertiary Market Immersion Programme (TMIP)Eight weeks to goJust eight weeks to TMIP 2020 departure! Following on from the success of TMIP 2019 to Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, 16 business-savvy tertiary students from across New Zealand have been selected to take part in TMIP 2020 where they will broaden their understanding of doing business in Southeast Asia. This time students, along with academic mentors, will travel to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Guided by these mentors, they will work in groups to develop a business pitch aimed at New Zealand businesses and entrepreneurs looking to engage with the region. Cultural Acumen Tourism TrainingTogether with the Department of Tourism at the University of Otago, SEA CAPE is developing a training programme to increase tourism operators' cultural awareness and to improve their services for visitors from Southeast Asia. The programme includes cultural training tools and videos. Feedback from over 30 SME business and tourism stakeholders shows this will fill a strong demand for authentic cultural training. A fully interactive web platform is on the way in 2020. SEA CAPE SpotlightCatching up with SEA CAPE friends and alumni Who are you and what do you do? What is your connection with SEA CAPE? Tell us about your favourite SEA CAPE memory? If you could drop everything and travel to any Southeast Asian country right now, which one would you choose, and why? New to the SEA CAPE mailing list? You can now access our past newsletters here |