JON FAIRALL
For all the talk about the size of the Asian market and its potential to return huge sums of money, not many companies have tried. And of those that have, few have seen any real success.
The Perth consultancy NGIS Australia is one Australian company that has successfully taken the challenge of working in Asia seriously.
So what's the secret? Paul Farrell, who has played a leading role in NGIS' Asian strategy for more than a decade, says a lot can be put down to persistence. 'We have been working is Asia since early 1996,' he says, 'so it is twelve years now.
'Our office in Hong Kong has eight staff. It has been operating since 2004. We also have a long-term project office in Indonesia.
'In the past, we have had offices in Vietnam and Cambodia with up to 15 people. We have performed projects on the ground in PNG, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong SAR, Vietnam, Mongolia, China, Fiji and the Philippines.
In other words, the company is well positioned to take advantage of the boom in infrastructure in Asia. On some estimates, Asian economies will spend 50 Tera dollars in capital works before 2020. Each project will require mapping services. Its going to be boom times for mapping consultants.
'It started when I was 26 years old on a one-year Austrade management fellowship to Vietnam. I was there to learn the business culture, learn the language (four hours per day for six months) and to develop a case for establishing a business there.
'NGIS Vietnam was born. At its peak, we had 15 staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with representatives in Laos and Cambodia.
'Getting our first job was quite easy. We already had connections with an Australian mining company. But the process beyond this - of trying to do work for some of the government agencies, although great in terms of the contacts made - was far from fruitful in terms of getting work.
'In one case, I negotiated with an agency for six months, so we could get access to their data to market it, only to find out that they had no control over the data and that we couldn't have it.
'It was obvious that we should focus on projects that had direct foreign investment. Supporting local government agencies to develop their capabilities became more philanthropic in nature.
'One of our early jobs was for Telstra Vietnam. The organisation required demand forecasting for a telecoms rollout in Ho Chi Minh City. It involved mapping, visiting and attributing 500,000 properties. We had 30 people doing street surveys for six months. We visited every house.
'At the same time, we established a presence through some large projects for the government in Hong Kong. After my return in 2001, we decided to exit Vietnam. The focus on China started in 2003.
'Why did we get started? People like our founder, Paul Harris, always thought that diversification outside Australia was good for business. It provides interesting and different projects for our people to work on.
'There are also opportunities to use spatial technology to help people and communities.' (The company worked on malaria control projects in Vietnam, and post-tsunami reconstruction in Banda Aceh.)
Farrell agrees that differences in culture can make doing business intimidating. 'I was fortunate', he says, 'that the Austrade fellowship allowed me to really get absorbed in the culture and learn the language before I started any serious business.
'Before I left I was warned that Asia was one of the most difficult places in the world in which to do business. Granted, the size of the contracts that we worked on was quite small, but I walked away from them thinking that business is a little different, but no more difficult, than in Australia.
'A place like Hong Kong is so multicultural that there are very few cultural issues to deal with. In many ways, it's more advanced in the services industry than Australia.
'I was lucky. I could walk into an office and be accepted quickly due to the training I'd had. If I'd had to learn on the job, it would be much harder.
'We very rarely encountered any issues of bribery or corruption in business. Such things arose on the street, or around my home. So it was a hindrance personally rather than professionally.
'From my observation, negotiation and bargaining are things that we Australians are not naturally comfortable with. We tend to offer what we think is fair, rather than taking a negotiating position. Negotiation and patience are important to getting good business outcomes in Asia.
'Asians in general place importance on getting to know people. Business is not just a contractual understanding, hence the importance of entertaining working partners and clients.
'It actually works. It makes doing projects easier. And despite what my wife would say, my karaoke skills have improved immensely!
'Would we have expanded faster by focusing on Australia? The answer to this is not clear, but it is important to have a long-term perspective. Now that we've got the experience, a significant presence in China, and have established relationships elsewhere, we can take on the role of being a regional provider with some confidence.
'Hopefully, the big rewards are to come!'
Jon Fairall spoke to Paul Farrell in January 2008.
