Australia in the Asian Century

I was reading with interest the article written by Michelle Grattan in the Sydney Morning Herald on the  28th September regarding  Asian Century opportunities that could be lost to Australia. I had to agree that Ms Grattan raises some very sound issues in her comments,  particularly given the current role of Asia today in the world economy as well as the role that Asia will play into the future as Australia’s key trade partner.

However, I had to admit that were two or three things that the column and the Governments dialogue seem to miss on this idea of “Australia in the Asian Century” and they relate to the realities of business and an understanding of the business perspective. My first observations was the constant reference to Asia in the article as though it was one country, like Australia or America. Asia is not one country and cannot simply be thought of as one market. Asia is made up of enormously diverse countries with different cultures, history, languages and broad ranges of  business cultures, which itself raises the second point.

Yes, language is an issue and nobody would argue with that,  however from a trade viewpoint the most important issue is the actual understanding of the business culture. For example, having lived and worked in various Asian countries, it is important to really understand how people think in terms of business negotiation. Every single market will think differently to us,  react differently to us and often have an entirely different way of measuring success and it varies from country to country. Disciplined and more often than not successful Australian business people understand this and know how to work within what can be a complex business environment.

My final observation from the article, was the fixation with China. China, is not the only card in the pack. Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia and others are fertile market opportunities for Australian business, so please while China is a major trading partner of Australia it is not the only Asian market offering market opportunities for Australia. 

The last point I would like to make is  on the education industry. One major competitive advantage  Australia has is having so many key decision makers in Asian countries exposed to our way of doing business through being educated here. Every effort needs to be made to ensure this continues as the benefits are equally beneficial.

Ian Murray
Executive Director
Export Council of Australia