The APBC was a proud supporter of Better-Together Project: Building Economic Resilience & Connecting ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs with Australia. This project was funded by the Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through Australia-ASEAN Council and involved multiple partners and stakeholders in Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Through the leadership of Alfred Presbitero, Associate Professor at Deakin Business School and Director of APBC, the project was able to build capabilities of 16 ASEAN women entrepreneurs (10 from the Philippines and 6 from Indonesia) and connect their businesses to Australia. Through a series of capability building and networking sessions with Australian business mentors and coaches that spanned almost a year (from June 2022 until May 2023), the participants were able to understand the Australian market and the requirements needed for them to bring their businesses into Australia.
The project was also instrumental in facilitating people-to-people, institutional linkages and ongoing trade relationships between ASEAN and Australia. Examples include an Indonesian participant preparing to export her coffee beans into Australia and Filipino women entrepreneurs preparing to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions in Australia to meet the buyers in-person.
The project was supported by partners in multiple countries including Deakin Business School (Australia), Global Sisters (Australia), Australia-Philippines Business Council, Philippines Consulate in Australia, Indonesian Consulate in Australia, Rags2Riches (Philippines), Day&Night (Philippines), Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry in Australia, Noken Papua Foundation (Indonesia), among others.
Project Lead and Team
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Left to Right: Associate Professor Deakin Business School – Alfred Presbitero, Associate Professor Department of Management – Deakin Business School – Dr Fara Azmat, Intentionality Inc – Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, Noken Papua Foundation – Ratih Eka Pertiwi, Chief Operating Officer of Global Sisters – Heather McLean-Thomson.
More information about the project can be accessed through this website: https://better-together-project.com/
