Source: Ottawa 24 hours Vol. 1 No. 173 | Sun Media

China has cast a shadow over the economic and trade potential that is rapidly becoming a reality in Vietnam, says Jennifer Sarumi, a Carleton University student who will be travelling to Asia next month with a team of 30 future Canadian business leaders.

Sarumi, a third-year international business student, believes Vietnam is an untapped leg of opportunities Canadian business institutions have yet to explore to the fullest.

“Everyone is so concerned with China right now and opportunities there, but a lot of companies from other parts of Asia are looking to Vietnam and Malaysia for manufacturing,” she said.

The 22-year old Ottawa native has every intention of rooting out these potential opportunities for her Canadian business sponsors as a member of the Junior Team Canada Economic Mission travelling to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia from Aug. 13 to 31.

Global Vision organized the mission and the team of 30 young Canadians was selected from more than 800 applicants.

Upon their return to Canada, team members must produce summaries for their sponsors and may be asked to offer presentations to community groups. Although daunting, Sarumi says she's up to the challenge.

“There is a lot of experience I can get out of this program that I can't really get at school. I mean we go to a lot of conferences were we network, but this is on a whole new level internationally and in Canada,” she said.

Sarumi has secured about five sponsors and is looking for more from biotech, information technology and education sectors in Ottawa. She is halfway to her $4,500 sponsorship goal, which will be matched with funding from Global Vision's sponsors.

“Part of our goal is to build business for the companies, so we want to ave sponsors that we can do something for as well as community-based organizations,” she said.