New Zealand innovators to venture into Southeast Asia

New Zealand innovators to venture into Southeast Asia

Five of New Zealand’s top tech entrepreneurs will gain an introduction to a market of more than 620 million people on a forum run by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

The Foundation will take the group to Southeast Asia in June, for meetings in Thailand and Singapore to learn more about business opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is a grouping of 10 nations with a population of more than 620 million people and has a free trade agreement with New Zealand through the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA.

The visit from June 16 to 25 is the first one offered to New Zealand entrepreneurs through the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative, managed by the Asia New Zealand Foundation for the New Zealand Government.

The participants are:

Alanna Krause, co-founder of Loomio – a social enterprise providing an online tool for collaborative decision-making – and co-founder and director of Enspiral Foundation (Wellington)
Jason Leong, CEO and co-founder of personal finance software company PocketSmith (Dunedin)
Bradley Scott, general manager of practice products at cloud-based accounting company Xero (Auckland)
Nick Shewring, co-founder and head of growth at co-working provider BizDojo (Wellington)
Zheng Li, CEO and founder of digital creative agency Zing Design (Wellington)

The group will travel to Bangkok on Tuesday 16 June, where they will be briefed by New Zealand’s Ambassador to Thailand Reuben Levermore and Trade Commissioner Karen Campbell. They will also meet with Thailand entrepreneurs in the technology, film, tourism and banking industries.

They will later travel to Singapore to attend the Echelon Asia Summit (23 to 24 June), the largest technology summit in the region.

Running since 2012, the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative has brought nearly 50 dynamic entrepreneurs and business leaders from Southeast Asia to New Zealand, building business connections and facilitating trade links. This year the programme has been made reciprocal.

ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative project manager Adam McConnochie says the New Zealand participants will learn about the business cultures of Thailand and Singapore, as well as the potential of the wider ASEAN region.
“This forum is a good way to leverage off the networks developed from the programme so far, and introduce some of New Zealand’s most impressive young entrepreneurs to the tech scene in Southeast Asia.

“Thailand is one of the technology industry hubs of Southeast Asia, and the group’s visit will enable them to meet some of the country’s top innovators.”

They will connect with previous Southeast Asian participants in the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative, including Thailand’s Amarit (Aim) Charoenphan, co-founder of Thailand’s start-up association and founder of its largest co-working space.

The Asia New Zealand Foundation is also offering up to 10 New Zealand business leaders and entrepreneurs the opportunity to attend the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur in August 2015, and is planning a tour to the Philippines later in the year.

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