FASS students intern at Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre

8 students from the subject Global Work Project have participated in a unique workplace experience, working as interns for the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC). 

The students have taken part in site visits to Indonesian manufacturing and distribution warehouses in Sydney, meeting retailers and distributors of sustainable Indonesian products. They also took part in a Zoom meeting with several Indonesian sustainable business figures, including a seaweed farmer, director of a multinational textile corporation, and a community business leader in Papua and Sumatra. The students also took part in the Indonesian Trade Fair held at the International Convention Centre Sydney in November. 

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Hi. I'm Michael.

I'm a third year Global Studies student at UTS,

and I've been completing an internship at the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre.

I’m studying at UTS,

doing a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of International Studies.

Hi, my name is Lewis.

I'm a UTS student studying Bachelor of Global Studies.

Hi, I'm Connie.

I'm a Bachelor of Global Studies at UTS, Sydney.

Hi. My name's Trinity.

I'm a UTS student doing a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of International Studies.

And today I am at the design trade fair centre,

sitting in a cocoon pod.

Hey there,

I'm Gabriel.

I'm an intern at the

ITCP sustainable design house programs.

And I do global studies with the business major.

My name’s Leila Chezzi,

I'm a student at UTS Global Studies student.

Hello, my name

is Chloe and I am a student at UTS who studies

international studies and forensic science.

We visited all kinds of industry players around Sydney,

so there's been Australian entrepreneurs that work with Indonesian producers,

but also Indonesian entrepreneurs that are working here in Sydney.

And really all our visits were

across all sorts of industries which is probably the thing

I like most about the program that we got an insight into all kinds of industries

and all of the entrepreneurs were really always

super keen to talk about their story and really share,

you know, their successes and failures, everything with us.

Some of my favorite things that I've experienced about this program

is the plethora and breadth of community and people that we speak to.

So to be able to speak to people

who are quite large manufacturers working with really big clients,

to someone who is as simple as a seaweed farmer who

kind of just gets his daily life to do that.

Experiences has been meeting new people learning more about Indonesian culture

and visiting new parts of Sydney.

And today we are participating at the Design Fair Sydney

as part of this internship experience.

What I’ve really, really enjoyed about this internship

is that it's just a chance to meet and find out about so many different

people and different stakeholders in the entire businesses of sustainability.

And in that it kind of works in the way that you don't

just get a glancing sight at these different people

and really find out everything about them and their business and how they operate.

And that really just helps in understanding so many different things,

not just about Indonesian trade, but in business as a whole.

It's been a really fantastic opportunity.

Such an incredible experience.

It's been so good for my confidence and professional skills

and as well I've been able to learn so much about

trade and marketing and Indonesian businesses in a global space.

It's been a really valuable experience

and I'd highly recommend it to anyone for next year.

I've had a really good time.

I've learned a lot.

It's been really interesting seeing how Indonesia operates with Australia

and how business interacts with government and government interacts with nonprofit

and all these sectors and relationships and just learning so much.

So far I've really enjoyed the practical side of

exploring international trade

and business and commerce and getting to interact with people that

work in the area and working with people on the ground.

I think it's been really refreshing to go from the theory side of uni

into the practicality of interning to sort of gain that experience I need

in my future career, whatever that might be.

The thing I have learned the most and enjoyed the most in this

internship program

is meeting new people and experiencing.

Indonesian business culture and all of the cultural aspects

that I never thought would show up for this.

It’s been a wonderful experience working with students from UTS,

they’re curious, they're fun and they're very helpful.

I wish them good luck for their future.

Thank you so much guys.

The goal of the program for these students, who draw from the Bachelor of Global Studies, the Bachelor of International Studies, and the Bachelor of Business, is to develop their communication and intercultural skills within a multidimensional, transdisciplinary internship setting.

Kestity Pringgoharjono, the Program Coordinator at the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre, speaks on the goals of the program:

This program facilitates engagement between UTS students and Indonesian producers to discuss sustainability practices in the production, sale and export of Indonesian goods to the Australian market across multiple industries. Students are provided with cross-cultural experiences and the opportunity to participate in research and creative content design.

On the benefits of the program specifically to the ITPC, Kestity says: 

It allows us to showcase Indonesian products to wider Australian stakeholders with approaches to sustainable production. Students are actively participating in the promotion of Indonesian products and businesses, developing stories about these sustainable products and featuring them online. These stories help small Indonesian producers by opening them up to international access, as many of them do not have websites and cannot afford the associated costs of developing and maintaining an online presence and trading in English. Students were also responsible for the creation of an interactive story map that displays the origin of sustainable products across Indonesia.

In regards to practical skills, Kestity notes that students are learning transferable skills, applicable to multiple industries and careers, such as:

Intercultural competency and cultural awareness, an internationalisation of their degree knowledge, verbal and written communication skills, professionalism, an insight into the government sector and international relations, the benefits of active global citizenship and an insight into female leadership skills.

Ultimately, the program helps students develop their human-centred skills, which go hand-in-hand with their technical ones. These transferable skills are essential for this kind of work but are applicable in almost any role, as communication, research, human relations, management, leadership, and creativity are all highly desirable to any employer.

Kestity says that these sorts of programs are beneficial not only to Indonesia, but to Australia as well, noting:

International trade and investment are critical to the Australian economy; it creates jobs and prosperity, and opens doors. Australia specialises in the export of minerals and services while importing manufactured goods, mainly from the Asian region. Indonesia, being the closest neighbouring country, is projected to be the world’s fifth biggest economy in 2024 based on data on the Gross Domestic Product-Purchasing Power Parity of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With its 270 million population and 5% economic growth, this will make Indonesia an important trading and business partner for Australia.

Understanding sustainable practices within the region is important to provide access to better-value goods for Australian consumers and better opportunities for Australian businesses. Sustainable practices in business are now more important than ever as we’re seeing many corporations contribute to environmental and social problems such as pollution, climate change, and unfair business practices.

Examples of student work