Around a decade ago Benjamin Cass arrived in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, with big plans to build an aged-care business based on his success in Australia.

His calculations were from desktop research about Indonesia and the size of the potential market an no surprise that they were incredibly tempting. Now home to more than 270 million people with a growing middle class.

But the numbers did not give a nuanced account of the social and business environment and as the year's went by, Ben's living quarters became less luxurious and new challenges arose.

Benjamin Cass was determined and had the authority to continue to invest, and after putting in considerable effort to learn about the country and adjust the business model,  it's fair to say he has succeeded in setting up a seniors' living concept in Indonesia, something that is relatively new to that country.

In this episode we talk to Ben about his journey and the power of a joint-venture in his road to creating a business in Southeast Asia.

Doing business in Indonesia in the healthcare sector is not an easy task. 

But today we're going to learn how an Australian company has secured a billion dollar deal by working with government policy priorities to deliver more and better healthcare to tens of millions of people.

The Executive Chair of Aspen Medical, Glenn Keys, talks to us about how building relationships, understanding the policy landscape and simply but consistently dealing with problems led to the agreement to build hospitals and medical clinics. 

Doing business in Vietnam is different to doing business in other Asian countries.

The vibrant and growing nation is looking for investment and business opportunities that align with its aspirations. But you need to go about it the right way to grow your business in Asia successfully. 

For many Vietnam is a China plus one diversification strategy, but the business culture is very different and if you're interested in doing business in Vietnam then now's the time to consider the local business etiquette and how that affects your planning. 

It has a young and aspirational workforce and a government that has signed several trade agreements to make doing business in Vietnam smoother. This includes the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Regions can differ in how they approach regulation and relationship building. 

 This podcast is from a short, live webinar session with  Christopher Morley, Trade Commissioner Designate to Hanoi with Austrade, Simon Fraser, the CEO of Auscham Vietnam and Robert Osborn, the CEO of Adra Group which has operations in Vietnam. The podcast is hosted by Helen Brown from Bisnis Asia.

** To learn more about how culture affects business etiquette take our short online course in cultural agility. We help you build the right skills and mindset to do business in an international market.

It takes more than a great product or service for an Australian business to succeed in Asia.

This is definitely the experience of Mark van Dyck, regional managing director Asia Pacific for the Compass Group. He oversees a workforce of more than seventy thousand people across ten Asian countries. The business serves 400 million meals a year, and generates revenue of three-point-five billion Australian dollars and has shown that an Australian business can succeed in Asia.

Doing business in Asia in the competitive fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry means digging in to commit to global growth and a cultural mindset.

 That's according to our guest Tarsi Luo. In 2020 she became the CEO of Bellamy's Organic, an Australian company which currently trades in four countries in Southeast Asia. It's best know for its baby formula, but the company also produces baby cereal, savoury meals and snacks.

Tarsi Luo has plans to build on this through global growth and says you can't just go in and sell food and beverages in Asia without understanding the culture, a skill we talk about a lot at Bisnis Asia. 

The executive is also a trailblazer for businesswomen of Asian heritage in a western business world.

The China market is a tantalising one, but meat and dairy business Ausfine Foods decided to concentrate on market growth by selling food into Southeast Asia.

Ausfine Foods Operations Director Garry Embleton⁠ talks about the challenges faced when doing business in Indonesia and the Philippines and what they have learned along the way about cultural capability and export trade. 

And one of the big lessons learned during the covid pandemic about how trusted relationships are vital in managing logistics and supply chain issues. 

China is a shiny market for many, but a tough one to navigate. And relationship building is the key. 

Catherine Cervasio founded Aroma Baby which develops natural and organic baby skincare products and in this episode we speak to her about how her business got a start into one of the world’s biggest consumer markets and why she puts so much effort into travelling to China, even when business was quiet.

“It’s really just that I have kept going, knowing that one day I would be able to scale back up and that’s where we are kind of up to at the moment.”   

Catherine Cervasio is a great example of the kind of executive and entrepreneur who knows what it takes to succeed in a different and challenging market.

Companies that want to tap into Asia markets can find it uncomfortable business. 

They see the potential of not just China but countries such as India in south Asia and Indonesia and Vietnam in Southeast Asia, but going in can soon turn into uncomfortable business. 

Complex markets which have different structures based on their culture require a different mindset and a higher level of resourcing to break into. For many businesses this just seems too hard and in this episode we ask why and provide some ideas on the change that is needed for doing business in Asia with success.