What’s in a name?
Asa Sumba
Us-a-soom-ba
One of the first questions we often get asked is “What does Asa Sumba mean?” Asa Sumba comes from a local Morobe creole and its English translation is “Who says no?” This simple phrase became James’ mantra for business and life while working and living in Papua New Guinea. For James, it prompts the obvious questions: “Who says you can’t do that? Who’s saying no to you and why?” and “What’s stopping you?” Almost always, the answer lies within. Asa Sumba International will help you to ask “Who says no?”, challenge your thinking and partner you to achieve success, whatever that looks like for you and your business.
Who We Are
Asa Sumba International provides specialised support to businesses across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Our network of trusted partners has significant expertise across the private and public sectors and work either independently or together to deliver results, depending on your business needs.
Founder and Managing Director James Gawne has more than 10 years of management experience across varying disciplines, including operations management, project management, engineering, continuous improvement, sales and business development. This includes many years spent leading large teams of production and technical employees in Australia for ASX-listed company SunRice and close to four years of international business management experience, living and working in Papua New Guinea as the Technical Engineering Manager and later, the New Projects Infrastructure Manager for Trukai Industries Limited. Before establishing Asa Sumba International, James was the Business Development Manager for the I2R Group.
James has proven experience in transforming and implementing new processes and procedures, in both manufacturing and project management environments.
A highly motivated professional with an ongoing passion for learning and teaching others, James has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Charles Sturt University. He combines the latest conventional knowledge and methodologies with the practical experience to fully understand how and where to apply it to achieve the best results and success.
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