Southeast Asian innovators to visit New Zealand

Southeast Asian innovators to visit New Zealand

15 October 2014

Top young entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia will share their business insights with audiences across New Zealand this month.

They include Joel Neoh, the founder of Groupon Malaysia and head of Groupon Asia-Pacific. Neoh heads operations for the deal-of-the-day website in 12 countries, including New Zealand.

Neoh, 31, will be in New Zealand from 19 to 25 October to participate in the ASEAN Young Business Leaders Initiative http://asianz.org.nz/our-work/action-asia-business/asean-initiative, managed by the Asia New Zealand Foundation for the New Zealand Government. The initiative is designed to strengthen links between businesspeople in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those in New Zealand. Neoh is one of seven Southeast Asian entrepreneurs visiting New Zealand this month.

He will speak to Dunedin entrepreneurs at The Startup Space on 21 October and at an event in Auckland on 23 October. He will also meet New Zealand technology entrepreneurs and members of the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Leadership Network, and will explore ways of enhancing business linkages between New Zealand and Malaysia.

Neoh is well-known throughout Asia and has won many awards, including being named a 2013 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

In 2007, aged 23, he won reality TV show competition “The Firm” - Malaysia’s equivalent of The Apprentice. He went on to found Youth Asia, focusing on investing and launching innovative internet companies. He then founded GroupsMore, a company based on the Groupon model, which was later acquired by Groupon. He has also founded Malaysia’s national youth entrepreneurship convention and a major youth festival.

The other six other entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia visiting New Zealand this month (28 October to 8 November) are:

• Amarit Charoephan (Thailand) - co-founder and co-CEO of Thailand’s first co-working office providers, Hubba Coworking and Pah Creative
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• Hendy Setiono (Indonesia) - co-founder and CEO of Baba Rafi, the world’s biggest kebab chain, which has more than 1,200 outlets in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia
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• Indradi Soemardjan (Indonesia) - co-founder and CEO of PT Javanero, which provides high-quality, sustainable coffee from the West Java Highlands
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• Mon Mon Myint Thu (Myanmar) - founder and managing director of e-commerce company AcePlus Solutions, which develops software and mobile applications for domestic and international markets
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• Leang Y Hong (Cambodia) - CEO and co-founder of engineering and construction company Lotus Green
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• Yvonne Kuan (Brunei) - general manager of finance and insurance firm Cedar Management Services
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The group will participate in professional development and meet with New Zealand companies and government agencies relevant to their respective fields.

Several of the business leaders will speak alongside Wellington entrepreneurs at the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Start-up Secrets http://asianz.org.nz/events/start-secrets-wellington in Wellington on 29 October.

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