Orientation

Six weeks prior to the trip students were immersed in a robust orientation that prepared them for the Programme. The orientation covered the following aspects:

• Background on Vietnam and the Southeast Asia region

• Historic and current political and cultural realities in Vietnam

• Aotearoa business engagement with Vietnam

• Vietnam business trends and the growing market opportunities for Māori

• Introductory Vietnamese language support

• Group Business Project

• Orientation Workshop 20-21 August.

Visit to Vietnam

The group connected with Vietnamese and Aotearoa industry experts in-market and experienced doing business in Southeast Asia.

Visits included:

• The New Zealand Embassy

• Kiwi Connection Hub

• BizEyes

• Hanoi Innovation Summit

• Sapa District Peoples Committee

• Ton Duc Thang University

The group engaged in a mixture of site visits and guest presentations. Vietnam culture is fast paced and vibrant and the group experienced that from the tech/business hub of Ho Chi Mihn, to the entrepreneurial drive in the high mountains of tourism hotspots such as Sapa.

Hosted by Sapa District Officials the group was invited to share in private cultural performances, and taste fresh, local cuisine.

Group Business Project

On the final day of the Programme, our student groups presented their Business Project findings back to their partner business mentor. The project scope for the groups was to present a market entry and feasibility strategy for the partner business that they were allocated to.

Across the four Māori Businesses that travelled, there was great market potential that existed across Vietnam. However this was not for all of the businesses, some were advised to look at Vietnam for a portion of the business but look at other countries as their primary Southeast Asia market, and others to consider different product offerings to capture the market need in Vietnam.