UOB-SMU AEI MBA Overseas Immersion Programme in Jakarta

SMU Overseas Centre Jakarta was delighted to welcome SMU-MBA students who participated in UOB-SMU Asian Entrepreneurs Institute’s Overseas Immersion Programme from 13 to 17 March 2023 in Jakarta.

The programme included meetings with prominent business leaders and influencers. Their first stop was a visit to Sinar Mas Land at BSD City to learn about Smart Cities and how they combine technology, sustainable living and healthy lifestyle. Thanks to Pak Tirrel Aulia, the team had an interesting guided tour of BSD City where a number of universities and tech companies are located.

Next was a trip to the headquarters of tech unicorn, Bukalapak, in South Jakarta and a meeting with Pak Suryo Sasono.​ Bukalapak’s strategic mission is to help mom and pop stalls and kiosk partners, commonly referred to as "warungs" in Indonesia to digitalise their businesses. It plans to capture a large market share of Indonesia's small businesses.

The programme also included a visit to the Apple Developer Academy situated within Binus University’s Alam Sutera Campus. The group had an interesting and insightful session with Pak Aris Suryamas and Ibu Yenny Sugiarto who spoke about the Apple Academy programme in Indonesia, including how the students were taught coding and collaborative problem solving. 

At the Binus Campus, Prof Dr Ang Ser Keng,  Principal Lecturer of Finance from SMU, also delivered a special lecture to Binus Business School Undergraduate students. At the same time, Dr. Marko S Hermawan, CA, CPMA, ACPA, CertDA of Binus University gave a lecture to the SMU MBA students about the business culture in Indonesia that was followed by a lively Q&A session.

Lastly, a fireside chat featuring economist and political analyst, Wijayanto Samarin, gave the participants valuable insights on Indonesia’s upcoming general elections and business landscape.

The group wrapped up their robust and culturally rich 5-day programme with a networking dinner with other SMU alumni.

The OCJ team had a blast making new friends with the group and we look forward to hosting more of such overseas immersion programmes in Jakarta!