Opportunities and challenges facing the region are sure to be a focus of PMI’s upcoming global congress.
While the world’s established economies struggle for stability, developing nations are thriving in bright spots around the Asia Pacific region.
“The Asia Pacific region has a significant number of developing countries and the largest population. This region is observing tremendous growth in large-scale projects in the last few years due to economic advancements and development opportunities.” says Rahul Sudame, PMP, group leader, PTC Software India Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India.
The massive growth is creating both opportunities and challenges for project professionals in the region and is sure to be a central topic at the upcoming PMI Global Congress 2009—Asia Pacific in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Significant infrastructure projects are underway across the region. Just one indication was a recent announcement by the Chinese government to earmark USD$586 billion over the next two years for the construction of railways, subways and airports.
In Malaysia alone, project managers are already working on several multibillion-dollar infrastructure initiatives including the Yan-Bachok oil pipeline, the Penang Global City Centre and the Rawang-Ipoh rail project.
In many cases, project managers have to coordinate a multitude of stakeholders from different locations. And that makes clear communication a priority, says Mr. Sudame, a member of the PMI Global Congress 2009—Asia Pacific Congress Project Action Team (CoPAT).
But while technology facilitates the real-time nature of modern communication, some of the cultural barriers—such as informal cues, economic disparities and language differences—can be hard to break down.
And these challenges compound the difficulty organizations face when searching for project managers with high-level skills, says Hirotoshi Kamba, PMP.
Mr. Kamba is an IBM certified executive manager, technical leadership for IBM Japan in Tokyo, president of PMI’s Tokyo, Japan chapter and a CoPAT member.
“More complex projects need more capable project managers [with] not only project management knowledge and skills, but also wisdom to integrate competencies,” he says.
For example, IT companies need professionals with specialized software engineering knowledge to know when to align new systems with current emerging market business models.
And as qualified project managers flock to developing areas such as India and Malaysia, where the demand is great, they are leaving more established cities.
Project leaders must learn to present new processes that fit the new projects—and to meet new complexities with cutting-edge solutions.
Congress can provide an excellent venue for discussing those issues.
“The interaction with fellow managers and PMI officers is also an important benefit and all the project managers in the region should take advantage of this learning opportunity,” Mr. Sudame says.
Of course, attendees can attend a variety of informative sessions as well.
Whether project leaders are at a session or a networking event, February’s global congress will serve as a platform to learn about the latest project management trends, best practices and lessons learned—from around the region and the world.
