Paradigm Infinitum Concludes Mission to Asia and Europe

At the end of July, Paradigm Infinitum CEO Kiong Chan and General Manager Shona Leppanen-Gibson returned to Brisbane following a visit to Malaysia and Sweden. During the trip, they meet with a number of government officials and business representatives to develop links and explore new opportunities.

In Sweden, Mr Chan and Ms Leppanen-Gibson met with the Mayor of Katrineholm, Mr Goran Dahlstrom, to discuss links with Australia on both a governmental and grass-roots level, and also to discuss some of the strategic challenges facing Sweden.

“Sweden is a country of great interest to Paradigm Infinitum. We often source articles and case studies from the Nordic region – we find the way of doing business in Scandinavia gives a fresh perspective for many of our course participants. Issues such as ethics, social responsibility, international trade and many others are approached in a completely different way from what many of us working in Australia and often utilising American and British management theory, have come to expect,” said Ms Leppanen-Gibson.

In Malaysia, Mr Chan and Ms Leppanen-Gibson pursued meetings with a range of officials in the government at both a state level and federal level following initial contact with these entities established through the Australia Malaysia Business Council (Qld) Inc. Mr Chan and Ms Leppanen-Gibson are both currently executive committee members, Mr Chan holding the Presidency and Ms Leppanen-Gibson holding the position of Senior Vice President. “We were very privileged to have spent several hours with Mr Tian Chua MP and Ms Nurul Izzah MP, both from Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat to discuss recent changes resulting from the 12 th General Election in Malaysia,” said Mr Chan. “As executives of the Australia Malaysia Business Council (Qld) Inc, it is important to engage both the opposition as well as the government to discuss the changes which will obviously have far reaching implications for doing business in Malaysia in general and for the interests of our members.”

Mr Chan and Ms Leppanen-Gibson also met with members of the Selangor Government, including an afternoon of discussions with The Hon. Teresa Kok MP, Selangor State Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, and meetings with Dato Jabar and Mr Hassan of the Selangor State Development Centre. “Selangor is a huge economy in its own right, and has a great deal to offer Australian investors. Not only is it situated close to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, it is in many ways a major industrial hub for Malaysia, and the Selangor Government has provided many exciting opportunities for investors, including the Biotechnology Hub.”

"The visit has been very rewarding. Not only have we forged new links in Scandinavia and Malaysia, we have also renewed our own interests in researching business processes and practices in other regions. The benefits for Paradigm Infinitum and its clients and associates are enormous, and will help us in the further development and strengthening of our training and consulting offerings,” commented Ms Leppanen-Gibson.

Above: Shona pictured with Mayor of Katrineholm, Mr Goran Dahlstrom and his colleague Ms Anna Bengtson, at a meeting in the Katrineholm Kommun building.		Above: Shona and Kiong met with Ms Teresa Kok, Selangor State Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade (pictured holding Ilkka Chang, son of Shona and Kiong).
Above: Shona (pictured with Ilkka) and Kiong met with The Hon Tian Chua, Member for Batu in Kuala Lumpur, and the Hon Nurul Izzah , Member for Lembah Pantai, along with constituent Ms Jenny Chia.