For Mukund Narayanamurti, Australia’s relationship with Southeast Asia has never been a theoretical concept – it has been the central thread of his professional life. That lifelong commitment will be formally recognised on Australia Day, January 26, when he is honoured for outstanding public service in strengthening trade and investment relationships between Australia and Southeast Asia.
“I’ve focused my entire career on Australia’s relationship with our region,” Narayanamurti tells Indian Link. “Over the last 25 years, I’ve been drawn to the richness of the Southeast Asian region, its people, cultures, history, politics, and markets. I truly love every country in the region.”
All roads lead to Austrade
That affinity has been shaped by decades of work across Asia, including Greater China, Northeast Asia and South Asia, before a more deliberate focus on Southeast Asia. In 2020, he made a defining decision to base himself in Jakarta with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), placing himself at the heart of the region Australia increasingly sees as central to its economic future.
“Our proximity, economic complementarity, and growing alignment meant that it made sense to focus my career on strengthening Australia’s trade and investment relationship with Southeast Asia,” he says.
That focus culminated in Narayanamurti leading Austrade’s contribution to ‘Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040’, one of the most significant economic policy initiatives Australia has undertaken in the Indo-Pacific. Translating a long-term strategic vision into practical action across 10 markets, however, came with considerable complexity.
“The hardest part is ensuring alignment with the large number of senior stakeholders entrusted with the success of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy,” he says, pointing to the breadth of leadership involved – from Australia’s Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore, to ministers, agency heads, states, territories and business leaders.
“Through consultation, genuinely incorporating feedback, and building evidence-based arguments, anchored in the Australian Government’s priorities, you build confidence to secure alignment,” he says. “Ensuring alignment is crucial to execute with confidence.”
At the centre of the Strategy’s development was an unprecedented consultation process, with more than 750 engagements across government and business. Narayanamurti credits Moore’s leadership as pivotal.
“He is one of the most consequential leaders I’ve worked with,” he says. “Nicholas led the consultations – every single one of the 750 plus consultations in the lead up to the development of the strategy.”
Crucially, the process reinforced confidence in Australia’s standing in the region.
The goal
For Mukund Narayanamurti, success in Southeast Asia is inseparable from cultural understanding and relationships built over time.
“Cross cultural understanding is crucial to engage deeply with counterparts in the region,” he says. “Language and cultural understanding are important, as is a deep understanding of markets, and having long-term established relationships with public and private sector counterparts in the region.”
He credits Australia’s diplomatic and trade officials on the ground for modelling that approach. “We are fortunate to have exceptional Heads of Mission and Austrade teams in Southeast Asia,” he says. “I learnt tremendously from them on how to build strong personal relationships that can aid economic diplomacy.”
Over the past decade, Narayanamurti has seen Australian business engagement with Southeast Asia mature, becoming more sophisticated and confident – though still uneven.
“Southeast Asia is not a homogenous region, and the opportunity set varies across sectors and markets,” he says. “It is appropriate for businesses to take a risk-adjusted lens to assessing their returns from doing business in Southeast Asian markets.”
At the same time, he believes misconceptions persist, particularly around business exits.
“One of the misconceptions is that when Australian businesses exit the region it must be due to a failure,” he says. “Australian exits are too often framed as failures when there is often significant nuance and strategy underpinning such decisions.”
Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, Mukund Narayanamurti sees the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy as a clear signal of Australia’s intent.
“It offers a coherent, long-term narrative of how we will engage with the region to drive two-way trade and two-way investment,” he concludes.
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