1週間ほど前に、オンラインセミナーに参加しました。「Business in Southeast Asia」というタイトルの講演会で、そんなに期待せずに参加したのですが、参加して大正解。大変に刺激を受けました。「Southeast Asia Lecture Hall」という定期的なイベントで、「Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI)」というジャカルタの団体が主催しています。本来は「ASEAN諸国の大学生や研究者」が対象なんですけど、私はいま所属先がマレーシアのUniversiti Malayaなので、確か2年前ぐらいに参加できるか尋ねたらメーリングリストに登録してくれました。非常にローカル色が強く、ASEANのいまの課題にフォーカスしているので、ためになります。
今回スピーカーとして登場したのが、Gita Wirjawanさんという方。こうしたセミナーでは珍しく、物凄く聞き取りやすく、かつ「立て板に水」な米語トークだったので、びっくりして真剣に聞いたら内容も素晴らしかった。私は知らなかったのですが、Wikiページにあるように、東南アジアでは特に著名な投資家でありビジネス・教育リーダーでした。シンガポールや大陸中国における新事業の活発な創出の秘密をハードなインフラと教育インフラだと分析し、そこをどうASEANが学べるかについて時間を割いて説明してくれました。こういう優れたリーダーがいるんだなぁ。大変勉強になりました！そして、質問の時間で列をなした学生諸君が、「インドネシア出身でいまシドニー大学に留学中」などと言いながらしっかりした英語でよい質問をしているのを見て、頼もしいなぁと感じ入りました。日本がいま最も必要としているタイプの人材なんだよなぁ。
About a week ago, I attended an online seminar. It was titled “Business in Southeast Asia,” and although I did not expect much out of it, it was a great event. I was very much inspired. It is a regular event called the “Southeast Asia Lecture Hall” and is organized by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), a Jakarta-based non-profit organization. Their events are originally intended for “university students and researchers from ASEAN countries.” I’m a Japanese, but I belong to Universiti Malaya in Malaysia, so about two years ago, I asked if I could participate, and they put me on their mailing list. Since then I attended a bunch. The seminars have very local flavors and focuses on current issues in ASEAN, so it is very informative, something I couldn’t gain anywhere else.
The speaker this time was Mr. Gita Wirjawan. I was surprised at his smooth American accents, which are easy to understand for me (kind of rare around here), so I immediately paid a close attention. His talk was quite logical and easy to follow as well. I hadn’t known him, but he was a prominent investor and business/education leader, especially in Southeast Asia, as his Wiki page indicates. Mr. Gita analyzed the secret to the active creation of new businesses in Singapore and mainland China as hardware infrastructure and educational one, and took the time to explain how ASEAN can learn from those cases. I was impressed that an excellent leader like him is actively operating in ASEAN. I learned a great deal! I was also impressed by the students who lined up during the question time and asked good questions in good English, saying that they were from Indonesia or other ASEAN states and were currently studying at universities in UK, Australia, and Canada. Man, Japan needs much more international talents like them!!
