On the AEC, economic miracles and leadership I was reading the tributes to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew the other day, and came across this comment from Henry Kissinger, an astute strategist and a man of letters who at 91 is continuing to contribute to society through his writing. “The mark of a great leader is to take his society from where it is to where it has never been.” The essence of strategic management. In fact, Dr Kissinger believed that there was no better strategic thinker in the world today than Mr Lee.
This edition of Asian Management Insights focuses on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the development of which also mirrors much of Singapore’s well-documented early struggles. ASEAN in 2015 is top of mind for most of us living and working in the region. Complex and disparate, comprising the developed and newly emerging economies, the member countries of this regional grouping face innumerable challenges, ranging from illiteracy and water scarcity at one end, to development of knowledge hubs and information technology capabilities at the other. However it is also home to immense opportunities. While the developed markets around the world struggle with ageing, and increasing fiscal concerns, ASEAN is young, vibrant and growing.
Our journey begins with a reflection from Edward Lee on the awakening of the political and economic giant that is ASEAN, and culminates in a Parting Shot from Sudhir Devare, who questions whether ASEAN can take on a leadership role for Asia Pacific.
Several distinguished contributors offer insights on specific countries. Tony Diep and Hawkins Pham, for example, write of the renaissance of the private sector in Vietnam, its macro stability and emerging middle class. Dr Le Dang Doanh, the former President of CIEM, Hanoi explores the transition of Vietnam’s economy from the old centrally planned, Soviet-moulded, economic system. Our coverage of Vietnam’s evolving economy concludes with a case study analysing Unilever’s ‘one-rinse solution’, an innovative and sustainable offering targeting the bottom of the pyramid customers.
Our contributors have also mentioned the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), to which Singapore is a signatory and which Vietnam is expected to sign shortly. The proposed regional regulatory and investment treaty has attracted widespread criticism on concerns that it is far more than just an economic trade alliance with the United States and member states in the Pacific region. Other current concerns in the region include the future of petroleum security, and Christopher Dula suggests significant investment and cooperation between ASEAN members will be required to shore up reliable access and affordability.
Open policies, an attractive workforce, and new market potential all suggest a Philippine ‘take-off’ is underway, says Dr Bernardo M. Villegas, who cautions ASEAN leaders that the AEC is a work in progress that may take at least 20 years to complete.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s former minister for trade, Mari Pangestu, discusses venturing beyond the ‘new normal’, to find a different way of questioning ourselves and the role of the State and the market. She also reveals that a smart Minister of Trade avoids words like “free trade”, “liberalisation” and “opening up”, telling me that you need to keep in mind public opinion and ‘national interest’!
Back in Singapore, Desai Arcot Narasimhalu notes that although Singapore has become more conducive for entrepreneurship, there are still valuable lessons for the nation to learn if it expects to see home-grown entrepreneurship pushed to the next level—surely a comment worthy of Mr Lee himself, who was always at pains to emphasise learning!
The challenges do not stop there. Howard Thomas explores the widening gulf between practical management and academic curricula. He questions whether schools are failing to adequately prepare students to deal with real-world management problems. So what should managers explore if they are to fill this talent gap? Interestingly, when it comes to nurturing future leaders, Rajeev Dubey offers the concept of ‘Rise Pillars’, which he says also doubles up as a means of getting the often under-rated HR profession to sit at the strategic table.
The technology-enabled wellness revolution and the evolution of a new mobile health (mHealth) ecosystem is an enormous opportunity now being explored across ASEAN. Francis Puno explains how the revolution conveniently capitalises on the high adoption rate of smartphones and enabled devices in the region, and helps medical staff to address chronic disease monitoring, health education, treatment and support services.
But back to the late Mr Lee for the last word. A realist to the end, he came to the conclusion that Singapore was unlikely to remain static in a fast-moving globalised world: “Will the political system that my colleagues and I developed work more or less unchanged for another generation? I doubt it.”
As always, the pithy Mr Lee captured the essence of strategic management and the spirit of entrepreneurship that is essential to business life and, some would say, is also uniquely Singaporean. Bravo Mr Lee. You will be greatly missed.