November 2019 Update

Kia 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 2019

Our 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 go

Just 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.

Together 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 Spotlight

Catching up with SEA CAPE friends and alumni

Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Senthil Danapalan and I’m Head of the Corporate & Government Segment - Enterprise Business at Maxis. I oversee the revenues/P&L in these two major business segments. Our activities span the connectivity and tech value stack, ranging from pure connectivity, fixed, cloud, and managed services to advanced smart solutions.

What is your connection with SEA CAPE?
I was selected as a SEA CAPE ASEAN@50 fellow in 2018.

Tell us about your favourite SEA CAPE memory?
During the ASEAN@50 fellowship, I met students, business and government stakeholders across New Zealand. It was fascinating to hear their ambitions, and learn about what the future holds for ASEAN & NZ as they find ways to maximise synergies in their bilateral relationships. I specifically enjoyed engaging with students and I'm confident they will be a key catalyst to drive this.

If you could drop everything and travel to any Southeast Asian country right now, which one would you choose, and why?
Malaysia (unbiased, of course!): the ultimate fusion of cultures. It offers so much in terms of food, nature, sightseeing, and shopping.

Spotlight archive

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