Tough, but the message is clear and on the whole, positive. The international community acknowledges the dynamism and appeal in various Southeast Asian countries in terms of economic windfall. This is a region that has continually recorded growth upwards or has been able to maintain it for the last few decades.
However, in light of what has happened since the onset of the Internet and the economic uncertainty in some markets, foreign companies and investors are looking to this region to rise and provide them with the proper human capital or talent and expertise to ensure continuous investment and development.
Finance Professor Didier Cossin and Professor Arturo Bris of the IMD Competitiveness Centre have some strong words about the direction of Southeast Asian countries when discussing the future of the Asean region.
Of particular attention are the issues of currency fluctuation and management of resources, where people are needed to strengthen the economy in the near future. Questions include: what can the leaders, including companies, do to improve for the better?
This was the gist conveyed to about 120 participants at the IMD World Competitiveness Centre programme that ran from Nov 16-19, with Malaysia being the third largest delegation to the executive course.
Cossin discussed why 90 per cent of boardrooms all over the world failed, why currency volatility will continue and why he’s all for the free market but open for intervention in some circumstances.
“We are navigating waters that have never existed before,” he said, referring to the appreciation and depreciation of currencies all over the world in such a short time.
In his session, Bris throws a question to everybody to mull over: does innovation create jobs? “Facebook (in itself) doesn’t create jobs.”
His panacea for a good government is becoming an authority that can enact or enforce a legislation for business creation with transparency, focus on job creation, open to trade and enjoys a stable and healthy financial situation.
We believe that this criteria does fit with what this region has in terms of similarities but there are differences which even investors or multinationals need to overcome when starting operations, including those who are already here.
“Look at the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. I heard that nobody even mentioned BRICS countries at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Manila, not one word,” said Bris, alluding to those countries’ uncertain economic outlook in the near future.
However, there are other challenges to be considered, not only by the countries in this region, said Professor Margaret Cording, regional director for IMD in Southeast Asia.
With participants of more than 30 nationalities in attendance, she reminded those from outside this region to be aware of the extreme diversity of, not just people, but infrastructure and culture.
“I’m a New Yorker and know what it’s like to ride the subway. But, in Singapore, people actually queue, letting passengers go out before
going in.
“This is a region that has the largest Muslim population, the second largest Buddhist population and the third largest number of Christians,” she said.
So, the multinational companies that want Asians to assume leadership positions must also ask themselves this: “Do you want a Western leader with an Asian face? They say no but I think yes.”
These were among the observations and opinions from IMD analysts about the Southeast Asian
situation which outside investors and companies need to think and strategise about before coming here.
Whichever way one looks at it, the IMD programme should be seen as a guide to the region on what an Asean country might want to emphasise or change on the way to a more prosperous community.
That is not all. Participants also learned about the information technology industry, how tech giants are gobbling up everything in their path on the way to earning and losing mega bucks.
They also learned something about marketing and branding a product; the success and failure of companies when it comes to
selling or changing their brand names.
One also got to hear the trials and tribulations of David Lim, who led a team to conquer Mount Everest between 1994 and 1998.
With the publication of the IMD World Talent Report recently, this programme covered a lot of topics that executives across the region and outsiders should know and care about to better understand the dynamics of this region and change accordingly.
There’s an analogy about the orchestra, piano and jazz that perfectly sums up why businesses cannot be run by a conductor, who decides alone. Perhaps a pianist is better as a leader who can deal with change in a different environment or maybe a jazz player who
can do that in any circumstances
without missing a beat. Now, do we have such talent here? In abundance?
The writer is BH Features/Op-Ed editor