Companies must take time to build relationships if they are to move into Asia, IAG MD and CEO Mike Wilkins says.

“Any relationship-building takes time,” he told last Tuesday’s meeting of the Trans-Tasman Business Circle. “Developing the personal relationships that will really enable you to understand your potential partners, their aspirations, their vision for the business, all while navigating one another’s culture, is a massive task.”

Since entering Asia in 1998, IAG has learned that “just like entering any new market, you need to have a well-thought-out strategy and ask yourself why you are there”.

The group had a slow, deliberate strategy with a view to long-term value. It was in China eight years before making an investment there.

“Success is built around patience and realistic expectations,” Mr Wilkins said. “Next, you need to do some honest self-assessment – what are your existing Asia capabilities, what are your gaps and how do you fill them?”

This includes asking whether staff are comfortable with new ways of working and have open, empathetic mindsets.

IAG aims to earn 10% of its gross written premium in Asia by 2016.

Mr Wilkins says companies considering joint ventures in Asia should first agree on a shared vision, and should be respectful by not pushing or forcing a solution on their partner. “Capabilities are best leveraged when shared.”

He wants Australian businesses to engage in Asia, noting calls for a new Colombo Plan – the 1950s diplomatic initiative that brought thousands of Asian students to Australia.

Mr Wilkins says AMMB Holdings Chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim studied in Australia and now leads one of the largest financial services providers in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. AMMB’s foreign partners in banking and insurance are ANZ and IAG.

Calling for trade assistance programs, diplomacy and business outreach, he says Australia needs a national vision for Asia. “Success would be a widespread understanding and acceptance that our future is inextricably linked to Asia.”