The New Colombo Plan offers Australian undergraduates new opportunities for prestigious scholarships and grants for study and Internships/mentorships in the Indo Pacific region.
In 2015, the Faculty of Business and Economics successfully applied for two rounds of funding in 2015/16 under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's New Colombo Plan. The New Colombo Plan offers Australian undergraduates new opportunities for prestigious scholarships and grants for study and internships/mentorships in the Indo Pacific region.
The first of these rounds is with Taiwan's National Cheng Chi University (NCCU), which took place in December 2015, with around 20 of our FBE undergraduates undertaking the Asian Emerging Markets and Economies program, a for-credit unit which combines academic learning and teaching, and conducting industry visits and cultural activities as part of their journey in Taiwan. Students also visited an indigenous Taiwanese group over 3 days and 2 nights.
Photos, student comments and updates on their travels, learning and networking adventures will be posted here so check back shortly!
8 December 2015: Company Visits in Taipei
FBE students at CMP headquarters
Students enjoying the view from CMP Taiwan overlooking 5th Ave
CMP began in 1972 as a small metal casting group that moved to construction, property and is now immersed in the arts, culture and environmental work. Their wonderful headquarters are also very accessible despite being a true business giant in Taiwan.
Pujen Land Development
Aromate Company Visit
Amazing employer visits yesterday: Aromate - makers of all things that smell nice including AirWick, and the metal casting to hotel development to art and green festivals giant CMP group. Students are seeing everything from small businesses to business giants. Di Rachinger, International Relations Manager, FBE, The University of Melbourne
9 December 2015: Lecture at the College of Commerce, NCCU
Wednesday morning's lecture was a favourite amongst students - Cross-Straits Political and Business Environment, presented by NCCU's Professor Chen-Shen Yen. The lecture went into great detail explaining the disparities between political and economic cooperation from Beijing to Taipei and vice versa. It was an insightful presentation that gave us a chance to understand quite a complex issue in a short amount of time, presented with finesse and humour - a favourite quote was 'I like my rice to have personality!' Zan Fairweather, FBE Student
11 December 2015: Lectures at the College of Commerce, NCCU
On Thursday morning we had the lecture 'Effective Learning Chinese with FUN! ', presented by Professor Jennifer Gao. Just as the title suggests, we had a great and fulfilling time. For the students who havent touched any Chinese before, they've obtained a good hang of speaking Chinese, such as greetings, asking for prices, Chinese number systems as well as a lot expressions that were very useful for travelers. It was amazing that we had a large number of talented speakers, and I'm sure there will be plenty chance to apply what was learned from the lecture in the rest of the program. As for students who have touched Chinese before, we had the pleasure of teaching Chinese to the rest of the group. It was a great opportunity to improve leadership skills and more importantly we were super excited and proud about how well our group have achieved in Chinese speaking. The lecture was then wrapped up by a folding & cutting exercise of Chinese character 'spring', 春. Everyone had great fun creating their very own souvenir! Yan Liu, FBE Student
Thursday afternoon we were challenged by the beautiful Professor Yu-Chien Chang to consider how we would introduce Australia as well as Taiwan to someone who had never visited these two countries before. The main topic of discussion for the class was the Cultural and Creative Industires of Taiwan. Unlike many countries such as the US, Korea and even Australia, Taiwan is currently lacking in an iconic and rich Creative and Cultural Industry. How can these industries further develop and in what areas of the culture industry does Taiwan have potential? These are the questions we are just beginning to answer after our short 2 hour class. Elizabeth Smith, FBE Student
12 December 2015: Lecture by Professor Jack Wu at the College of Commerce, NCCU
Yesterday morning we attended a lecture on the Taiwanese economy. 2 particularly striking things. Firstly, from a PPP perspective, Taiwan isn't doing badly at all compared to Aus, which highlights how expensive Aus is. Secondly, the challenges of economic interdependence with China are similar for Taiwan compared to Aus. Different cultures, different sizes by land, and yet, similar economic problems to tackle. Leon Obrenov, FBE Student
13 December 2015: Visiting Beitou Thermal Valley
14 December 2015: Final Lecture at NCCU by Professor Sandra S. Liu
Our final class of the program was hosted by the distinguished Professor Sandra S. Liu, and it proved to be a particularly interesting and wide-ranging discussion; incorporating a brief introduction to the professor’s career and interests, and then branching off into an examination of the growth and significance of social enterprise in the world today. The professor then introduced a number of basic marketing principles, in order to motivate key aspects of the lecture’s main topic – business modelling and strategy. We were introduced to some basic strategy planning techniques, including an outwardly simple but rather complex categorized box diagram. Even with all this content, the lecture proved to be exciting and entertaining, with Professor Liu focusing greatly on involving our group in the conversation, rather than simply speaking at us! Anirudh Suthakar, FBE Student
More photos from the trip: visiting the indigenous communities, tea picking, exploring Taipei
Kristen Zhang, 'Gai Nu', Alicia Huang and Elizabeth Smith
Thermal springs at Beitou Valley
Tea-picking
FBE students at NCCU
Exploring Taipei at night
