The legal profession has been a “bellwether “ for corporate Australia in regards to Asia, but it’s time as a leader of the pack has slowed, according to a leading economist. “The Australian legal fraternity has done well with the first round of Asian industrialisation, but their progress with the second and third rounds is much slower,” said Westpac's senior international economist, Huw McKay, speaking at a Baker & McKenzie seminar on the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper.

McKay said that the Australian legal profession had done well with its activity in Asia, particularly in Japan, which was the most advanced nation in Asia for a long time, and also in Hong Kong, but its recent focus had become more global than regional. “With regards to Australian law firms, it’s more an issue of globalising rather than regionalising at the moment,” he told ALB.

Fellow presenter at the seminar, and co-author of the paper, Professor Peter Drysdale added that the Australian legal profession had been “quite responsive” to the changes occurring in the market. “If I was to name a sector that was ahead of the pack, then legal would be up there,” he said. “In the regional sense, there have been some new approaches in the development of business and interactions within the region.”

Both McKay and Professor Drysdale said that the Australian business community in general had been unprepared for the scale and speed of growth in the Asia region. “What is going on in Asia is big in a way that it has not been before,” said Professor Drysdale. 

McKay added: “Corporate Australia was very unprepared for the immense importance of Asia in today’s world. It is timely that the government has stepped forward now, but if we had had this conversation 15 years ago, we would have ridden the wave in Asia much better. Once you get past the primary industries it is hard to find a champion from Australia in Asia.”

Both men urged business to work with government, institutions and society to capitalise on the changes occurring not only in China, but across a number of Asian economies. “It is a task beyond one government; it requires business, the community and institutions,” said Professor Drysdale.

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