Japan is like a magnet to Macquarie University Arts student Cindy Huang. "Ever since I did robotics at school, I've wanted to make technology more accessible to people and solve some of the world's big problems. The Japanese are great innovators and I wanted to see how they use technology to tackle their greatest challenges such as disaster management, an ageing population, declining fertility and the economy."

Under the New Colombo Plan, Cindy studied Japanese intensively at Waseda University in central Tokyo. "I had done one year of Japanese in Australia before starting the course in Japan, but it was two levels above what I had learnt, so I had to study furiously. It was great meeting the other international students. Occasionally I volunteered to teach English at a local school."

Under the New Colombo Plan Cindy also worked as an intern at two establishments. The first was for one day a week in the marketing team for the National Australia Bank in Tokyo-a partner to the New Colombo Plan. "The branch only had one marketing manager so I learned a lot from her. We created reports that were distributed to NAB stakeholders across Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Australia. It was great experience."

Cindy's second internship was with J Seed Ventures, a venture incubator providing management and technology consulting services. "They have a space in Tokyo for start-ups to grow and I immersed myself in learning about what it takes to solve customer problems and starting a business. I volunteered at many start-up events and made a lot of friends and contacts around the Asian region. Start-ups are a global phenomenon and it's wonderful to be connected to that.

"The New Colombo Plan showed me that entrepreneurs are the ones leading the quest to reimagining Japan. I am very focused now on graduating and eventually running my own start-up company."