Novartis International Biotechnology Leadership Camp, Tokyo, 6-8 October 2007 (part 1)

Novartis BioCamp is an annual event organized by Novartis, a global pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, that aims to bridge business and biotechnology, by growing interest for biotech and giving business insights. BioCamp 2007 is the 4th BioCamp in Asia Pacific and the first for Europe to hold a similar event. It is the third time that Indonesia sent its delegates to the prestigious event. International BioCamp gathers selected global talents to have discussions about the latest development in biotechnology business. As many as 42 young scientists and businesspeople from 15 countries participated in the BioCamp 2007 held in Tokyo, Japan on 6-8 October 2007.

Prior to the international event, an Indonesian BioCamp was held at Santika Hotel, Jakarta. Out of more than 40 applicants, 16 finalists were selected based on their resume and interview result. The participants include Bachelor holders and Master students from Pharmacy, Medicine, and Business Management background. Prasetiya Mulya is proud to have two delegates among the finalists: Santy Dermawi and Pritya Pravina, both from MMR 33. The night before the final day, a welcoming dinner with ice breaking session was thrown to brief the finalists and give them a chance to know each other. Novartis representatives from Singapore and USA also joined the event. The final day consisted of seminars and group discussions, where juries from internal and external institution closely observed the finalists to seek for leadership skills. Students with pharmacy, medicine, and business background were mixed in a group to form a simple business plan for the launch of malaria drug in a South East Asian country. The result was presented in front of the jury, where the participants must be able to defend their plan. Finalists from Prasetiya Mulya demonstrated skill in presenting and speaking, even though the competition is quite tight with finalists from IPMI and MM-UI. As someone with a biology background currently pursuing business education, I was very enthusiastic about this event, since combining biotechnology with business is something I have always wanted to do.

Finally, after an undisclosed evaluation process, in the same evening, the winners were announced. I was quite surprised by the fact that I was one of the two delegates to be sent to Japan. Going to Japan has been my dream since I was a kid and therefore, it is hard for me to believe that it finally came true. It is truly a blessing.

One month to the departure date, we were occupied by preparations, although most of the immigration requirements were taken care of by Novartis staffs. Several times we were also called to Novartis head office to be interviewed by reporters. Between my hectic schedule of business plan preparation and classes, I must admit that this chance of going to Japan was felt as somewhat recreational, rather than competition-like. I even bought a conversation book to help me learn common Japanese words, special for this event.

On Thursday, October 4th, 2007, I left for Tokyo by Garuda Indonesia midnight flight. After spending most of the 8-hours-flight sleeping, I finally arrived at Narita Airport, Tokyo on Friday morning. My first impression: everything is totally organized, clean, and modern. I was overwhelmed by joy and enthusiasm. At the arrival gate, a Novartis staff welcomed us with fluent English and escorted us to the bus, which took us to the hotel. The trip to ANA Intercontinental Hotel, Akasaka took around 2 hours. During the journey, we were shown a landscape of rice field, Tokyo industrial estates, Tokyo Disneyland, and city cars such as Mini Cooper and Toyota Prius Hybrid cars. In some places, the traffic went a bit crowded for a short period of time.

As soon as we got in the hotel, Novartis representatives have waited for us at the help desk. After registration and obtaining all the required documents, we went up to our rooms. Each room is assigned to two delegates from different countries. My roommate happened to be the winner of European BioCamp, a PhD candidate from Basel, Switzerland. After freshened up, we went outside to have some lunch. Luckily, we soon encountered a traditional food stall, where we enjoyed a delicious and inexpensive lunch without sitting. The price for a bowl of soba with tempura was ¥450, a fairly cheap price compared to restaurant meals which ranges from ¥1000-2500. After lunch, we continued to wander around the Akasaka area, which turned out to be an international business district where we can meet people of diverse ethnicities.

That evening, a welcoming dinner was held where for the first time we met other delegates from various countries. The ice breaking session was rather unique, since it made use of a ¥5 coin engraved with the year of making, counted from the beginning of Heisei era. The year was used as a tool for deciding who will stand up to tell a story about themselves, their educational background, their life-changing event, and the duration of their flight to Japan. More about 5 yen coin...

The following morning was the first day of the workshop. Similar to the rest of the program, the day began with seminars and ended with group discussions. Every day for three consecutive days, at 7.30 AM, a bus took all of the participants to Academy Hills, Mori Tower, in Roppongi, an upward route that took around 10 minutes. Academy Hills is a prestigious 51-storeys skyscraper that contained offices, a library, conference rooms, and an art museum. The workshop was held on the 49th floor, where we can see beautiful Tokyo City View. For two days, the workshop ended at 6.00 PM and all participants went back to hotel on foot. The road back was sloping downward, and even though it took about 15 minutes to reach hotel, the walk was not tiresome due to engaging conversations and festive Tokyo night lights that set the background.

To be continued....