Learnings from Chongqing

The INDUSTRIAL + ASIA 2018 program that TILT has invested in is a market entry strategy developed by Dominion House for those who want to explore the opportunities the Asian market may offer for their business.

Like most explorations, there are lessons to be learned along the way, and in the case of our recent trip to Chongqing in southwest China there were a couple of key learnings. Firstly, it is often not just your plan of attack but who you know that helps you get to where you need to be. It was a great pleasure to be supported by Murray Davis (Trade Commissioner South China and Hong Kong at Trade and Investment NSW) who offered us an introduction to China’s largest developer Country Garden. 

This meeting was an opportunity to start building a relationship with future collaborators, to hear about their amazing upcoming projects, to share TILT’s vision for supporting innovative design, and to consider the best strategy for the development of these relationships in the future both in Australia and overseas. 

These types of introductions do not happen by chance and it was through the hard work of our host Jeremy Barnett that this occurred. 

One of the other great takeaways from the trip was that when things are not going exactly to plan, being flexible in your game plan can help you extract some unexpected value. During quieter times at the most recent trade show our hosts started introducing themselves to other exhibitors in order to gain some insight into the local construction market. Through this series of unplanned introductions it became obvious that there were several opportunities for us outside of the trade show, and in particular we were informed of a significant development which would suit our services and products, and we have been offered an introduction as a result. 

Becoming aware of this development has reinforced our expectation that there is an underlying demand for custom architectural design in the Asian market, and the buyers' intent is to buy in to the brand lifestyle. 

The more time I spend in China, the more I learn about, and have a better understanding of, this significant and culturally different market - and how TILT can best be a part of it. It’s an investment I am happy to be making and an experience I am pleased to share my learnings about, so I invite questions if you have them.