Thousands of students are leaving the country and Julie Bishop couldn’t be happier.

Thousands of young Australian women are winning government scholarships to study overseas – and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop couldn’t be prouder, as she writes for Mamamia in her column today.

I’ve have often been struck by the number of prime ministers, presidents, vice-presidents, cabinet ministers, business and community leaders in our region whose understanding of Australia was fashioned by their time here as a student under the Colombo Plan – a key initiative of the Menzies Government that brought the best and the brightest in Asia to study in our country.

Over 30 years, around 40,000 young people studied in Australia under the original Colombo Plan.

It was with this in mind that I launched a reverse program, the New Colombo Plan (NCP) shortly after the 2013 election to support young undergraduates in Australia to live, study and work in our region.

The NCP is intended to be transformational; deepening Australia’s relationships in the Indo-Pacific region by supporting increased people-to-people, education and business links. Already, almost 4,600 young Australians have received NCP support.

In 2016, the Government will offer around 100 prestigious year-long scholarships and around 4,750 mobility grants to support short and longer-term study, internships, practicums and research in the region. This will take the number of students who have benefited from the New Colombo Plan in its first three years to almost 10,000.

More than 35 countries across our region, including China, Indonesia, Japan and India, have offered to host Australian undergraduate students.

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NCP students are proving to be wonderful ambassadors for Australia. Students who have returned from overseas have reported a greater understanding of our neighbours and Australia’s place in the world. They have come back with new skills, new insights and new friendships that will enrich their lives and, over time, transform the cultural and economic life of Australia.

Over half of the scholarships have been awarded to young women, in recognition of their academic excellence, leadership qualities, community engagement and career goals.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of meeting the first Indigenous NCP scholars, Jasmin Hammond and Charlee Law.

Jasmin studied chemistry and environmental science at Hong Kong University. Her NCP experience gave her the confidence to apply to study medicine in order to give back to her community. In addition to her studies at the University of Western Sydney, Jasmine is working as a Trainee Aboriginal Environmental Health Officer at Cowra Council. Jasmine is a deserving finalist in the 2015 NSW Young Woman of the Year Award.

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Charlee Law, a 2015 Singapore scholar, is equally impressive. Also from the University of Western Sydney, Charlee will study natural and physical sciences at the National University of Singapore later this year. Charlee has a passion for improving environmental health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait people through her work as an Environmental Health Officer for the Sydney Local Health District Public Health Unit.

Another accomplished recipient of a NCP scholarship is Emma Roberts from Australian National University. Emma is the inaugural New Colombo Plan Yudhoyono Fellow and is currently completing an 18-month study, research and internship scholarship in Indonesia focussed on law and gender studies.

She founded the Yogyakarta chapter of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association and has been invited to participate in the Australia-ASEAN Emerging Leaders Program in Malaysia.

Internships and mentorships are a hallmark of the NCP and I am delighted by the enthusiasm with which the business community in Australia and our region is embracing the program and providing opportunities for young Australians to gain practical experience working in the region.

The NCP is supporting students like Denver Linklater, from Swinburne University of Technology, to undertake a six month internship at chemicals giant BASF’s world-class research facility in Singapore; Caroline Yun, from the University of NSW, to undertake internships with Telstra and the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan; and Emma Moore from Monash University, to undertake an internship with Herbert Smith Freehills and a mentorship with Telstra International’s legal counsel in Hong Kong.

These experiences – and the friendships and networks that students gain – will be critical to Australia’s capacity to engage more deeply in the most dynamic region in the world. We are investing in our nation’s future by investing in young people who will be among our future leaders.

For more information on the New Colombo Plan, visit this website or follow @NewColomboPlan on Twitter.

Have you ever studied abroad? We’d love to hear your best memories.

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