In strict compliance with all currently applicable Corona regulations for official meetings, the kick-off event of the planned Sou'East Asia Business Stage, initiated and organized by the Asian European Consulting Group (AEC) and the project management and digitalization company sumo Technologies, took place in a small but prestigious setting on Monday, March 8, 2021 in Klagenfurt. Both companies have been successfully engaged in collaborations with Southeast Asia for many years.

During a multilateral forum, representatives from Vietnam, Thailand and Carinthia met to discuss cooperations in the field of business, technology and innovation. The Ambassador of Thailand, H.E. Ms Morakot Sriswasdi and the Ambassador of Vietnam, H.E. Mr Le Dzung, were personally present to meet and exchange ideas with the organizers and representatives of the business, technology and start-up location Carinthia/Klagenfurt. Together with the President of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce, Jürgen Mandl, an active dialogue with the guests from Southeast Asia and representatives of the Young Economy and the Lakeside Technology Park was established.

Both ambassadors showed great interest in collaborations and underlined the common goals with concrete ideas in the food and health sector.

At the request of the Thai ambassador, special attention will be paid to supporting female entrepreneurs. This is taken into account within the framework of the Sou'East Asia Business Circle for Women Entrepreneurs, which aims at the informative exchange and networking of women entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia and Carinthia.

For September, the organizers AEC and sumo Technolgies are planning the first big event of the Sou'East Asia Business Stage as a hybrid event between Carinthia and the partner countries to present companies and start-ups from the three regions and to launch concrete projects.