Victoria and the Asian Century Conference 2013. Importance of cultural intelligence across Information Technology engagement.

LogicalTech Group's Digital & Social Media Manager, Cassidy Poon is honoured to be invited for the launch of Victoria and the Asian Century recently, held by Victoria University. The Victoria and the Asian Century Conference examine the opportunities and challenges facing Victoria in the Asian Century. It will explore how industry and government can work together to build stronger relationships across the region, including closer educational, cultural and people-to-people links. Senior business leaders, senior government officials and leading academics were there to discuss the future for Victoria.

Editor-in-Chief of The Age, Andrew Holden, Master of Ceremonies says, “Last year we held an excellent conference on Victoria at the Crossroads, with excellent presentations and discussions with key business leaders. This year’s theme is a logical progression to ensure our state is well-prepared for future challenges.”

The Victoria and the Asia Century 2013 conference, held by Victoria University, will examine the opportunities and challenges facing Victoria in the Asian Century. This program is part of the Australian Government’s Australia in the Asian Century – Implementation Plan White Paper. In this age of social transformation, cultural intelligence is a topic of urgency for organizational leaders. Download the whitepaper here.

Making the most of the opportunities presented by the Asian century, and guarding against the risks, demands a renewed commitment to building productivity and resilience; developing Asia-relevant capabilities; finding smarter ways of connecting with Asian markets; contributing to regional security in food, water and energy; and enhancing the quality of relationships with our neighbours in the region.

In public commentary, Victoria is often associated with declining manufacturing, a decline that appears to have accelerated off the back of the resources boom. But that assessment is misleading. In Victoria, traditional manufacturing sits alongside demonstrated excellence in biotech, aviation and aerospace, agriculture, aquaculture and viticulture, hospitality, information and communication technologies, logistics, design, education, health services and financial services. And there are many examples of other high-wage countries having secured an indispensable place in regional and global manufacturing supply chains. We need to ask how, and in what areas, Victoria might secure a future in this sort of manufacturing, and in all the other areas in which it has demonstrated excellence.

Victoria is a state of remarkable economic diversity; a state that, with the right investments, will be well placed to make the most of the opportunities of this Asian century. Victoria, with its world class capabilities and a diverse range of service industries supported by an excellent education and R&D base, is well placed to take advantage of these opportunities. The Victorian Government is delivering a range of initiatives and actions to ensure businesses receive the support they need to access these opportunities. These include, for example, industrial relations, productivity and innovation reforms, strengthened international R&D partnerships, a new manufacturing strategy, fostering a more assertive export culture through closer engagement with industry, and supporting larger, more targeted trade missions to Asian markets.

Victoria is home to world class energy and resource deposits. Increasing demand for these has been a hallmark of Asian development to date, and will be a key feature of the Asian Century. Technological developments that reduce carbon dioxide emissions, combined with a need to diversify energy supply sources, is underpinning strong interest from the Asian region in Victoria’s brown coal resource. Combined with an established financial and legal services capability skilled in servicing the resources sector, Victoria is well positioned to engage more fully with the Asian region in the supply of energy. Victorian Government initiatives such as the Energy Technology Innovation Strategy along with the groundbreaking CarbonNet carbon capture and sequestration project place Victoria at the forefront of the energy sector’s technological transformation that will be required in the Asian Century.

As a multicultural society which has long recognised the benefits of cultural and linguistic diversity to the nation, there are tremendous opportunities and benefits for all Australians to increase their understanding of the diversity and nuances of Asian cultures, languages and business practices. This would facilitate stronger cultural ties, the two-way flow of trade and investment, and improved business opportunities for Victorian and Australian businesses in Asian markets. It would also reinforce the benefits of cross-cultural diversity to the domestic economy. In a globally integrated economy, language diversity can facilitate the flow of people, ideas and talent, as well as goods and services. Our growing ties with Asia make this even more important.



The Victoria and the Asia Century 2013 conference, held by Victoria University, will examine the opportunities and challenges facing Victoria in the Asian Century. This program is part of the Australian Government’s Australia in the Asian Century – Implementation Plan White Paper. In this age of social transformation, cultural intelligence is a topic of urgency for organizational leaders. Download the whitepaper here.