Feature

Shahnewaz Mazid

I was told to join HEROES Conference in Malaysia to attend a project on HIV/AIDS. HEROES Conference 2007 brought together the key drivers of HIV/AIDS and Market Expansion (Entrepreneurship) across the entire Growth Network to network, plan, build partnerships and develop skills and meet externals. Fourteen countries from all over the world participated in the conference. All in all, HEROES Conference was about helping everyone understand how to make HEROES successful in their respective countries. And we all met in Malaysia to create a better impact on our society for mankind.

The focus for this year's HEROES Program was to make an IMPACT in our Growth Network (GN) by giving everyone who participated the opportunity to become Heroes themselves. At the same time, the HEROES Program would have a significant effect on our growth in exchanges and leaders within Asia Pacific (AP).

The HEROES Conference target audience was members who are part of Market Expansion (Entrepreneurship) project teams (team members and leaders), and HIV/AIDS Project team, that is MC VP Project, LCP's, LCEB's, Project OCP's, Project Team leaders and project team members.

HEROES is an Umbrella project that brings together the various initiatives around Asia Pacific Growth Network to help our Membership, interacting with Asia Pacific to become the HEROES of today for tomorrow. The ambition of this project was to drive this theme forward, facilitating more issue-based AIESEC experiences within countries of the Growth Network to create a positive impact on the global network.

Objectives of HEROES Conference 2007:
1. To develop project management skills so as to be able to deliver successful HEROES initiatives in their country. (Skills)

2. Delegates, connect with the topic of Market Expansion and HIV/AIDs and learn from external experts or partners (External Interaction)

3. Connect HIV/AIDs and Market Expansion responsible from across AP GN to share ideas and develop solid partnerships (Networking).

Through building a network of LCs that would be running Project base exchanges that are working with both Business market Expansion and HIV/AIDS. Businesses in the world are looking into expanding to markets and activities in Asia Pacific. Although they face big problems when they try to do so because they don't have the network, the culture or the language to market these problems arises. AIESEC in Asia Pacific can capitalize in this by generating a pool of individuals within Asia with work abroad experience, leadership and entrepreneurial skills to be local leaders of tomorrow. And HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that is affecting our world and is rapidly affecting Asia. To create sustainability within the businesses we need to address this issue by creating awareness about HIV/AIDS. We know very well that this is a taboo, to speak about it; it's not very well accepted. So to address this issue, we need to have awareness, either through peer to education or within university students. This is why we need OUR people to start addressing this issue since no one else is going to do it. This will ensure having competent people to take mature and responsible decisions about the future of Asia Pacific.

The Night AIESEC Malaysia recognized talent, handwork and determination. One night was to crown the best of the bests in Malaysia. It was a night of glitz and glamour - the . "AIESEC Malaysia Awards Night 2007." All the big stakeholders, business icons and cabinet ministers of Malaysia were present, which was the special honor of the night.

In the development sector, AIESEC in Malaysia has done a lot of work. They can be the icon for AIESEC Bangladesh. I am very delighted to be a pat of this HEROES Conference 2007. Through this I have learned a lot about Market Expansion and how to develop it. The sense of helping the society got much stronger in me by joining this conference. And I can never forget the chance that I have got to meet the big business icons and ministers of Malaysia over there.

(Local Committee Vice President
Incoming Exchange
AIESEC in Dhaka East
Independent University, Bangladesh)