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any of us can probably remember being tossed a tough question during an interview for a job.

Mine came close to the end of an hour-long inquisition. The interviewer '€” my future boss '€” said: '€œTell me a time, when facing a critical issue, you moved too slowly to deal with it. What was the issue, what were the consequences, and what did you learn from it?'€

It'€™s a tricky question because you have to remember the issue, show enough self-awareness and honesty to explain your own mistakes or poor judgment or inexperience, then top it off by demonstrating that you'€™ve genuinely learned from what happened. The book-end question '€” tell me a time when you were too fast '€” is equally challenging.

This concept of effective leadership '€” of being too fast or too slow '€” has stayed with me ever since that interview, and for good reason. It is such a powerful way to learn about life, in all manner of ways.

What about governments? How often are they too fast or too slow in dealing with big issues? Can they be fast when required?

I have been drawn to think about this after working over the past couple of months with leading economists in ANZ and PwC, along with other senior advisers in Indonesia and Australia, to analyze the changing economic fundamentals across Asia. The work has resulted in a call-to-action report, Succeeding Together: Maximizing the potential for joint opportunities between Australia and Indonesia.

Commissioned by the Australia-Indonesia Centre and due to be launched today in Yogyakarta by Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, Succeeding Together calls for the two nations to move quickly to build joint competitive advantages in sectors that have the highest potential to win business in third markets.

Moving fast is essential, the report says, because a US$3 trillion trade opportunity is opening up in the Asian region over the next decade and other nations will be winners if Indonesia and Australia fail to act decisively.

Rather than relying their own traditional strengths, the report says Indonesia and Australia will be stronger and produce more shared benefits if they work together.

The notion of joint competitive advantages is bold and exciting '€” and very timely for both countries.

First, the mining boom, which provided such a smooth, dependable ride for resource-rich Indonesia and Australia, is all-but over for now.
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Indonesia is not in Australia'€™s top 10 trading partners, and Australia just scrapes into Indonesia'€™s top 10.

Second, the once super-charged Chinese economy, the go-to trading partner for Indonesia and Australia, is turning inwards as it moves from labor-intensive manufacturing exports to services, innovation and domestic consumption to drive its future growth.

And third, capital is forecast to flow south in Asia as the search intensifies for lower-cost manufacturing.

'€œCountries like Indonesia and Australia,'€ writes former Indonesian trade minister Mari Pangestu in Succeeding Together, '€œwill have to diversify away from their traditional strengths like resources to find new sources of competitive advantage. Each country can do this on their own or together.'€

The good news is that, according to the analysis, not a great deal needs to be done to accelerate the existing advantages Indonesia and Australia have in textiles, food processing, logistics and animal products. Success will come from a simpler regulatory environment, a sharing of knowledge, targeted training and investment in infrastructure. And, of course, by moving fast.

The report'€™s findings are a reminder that Australia and Indonesia '€” the 12th and 16th biggest economies in the world '€” ought to be stronger trading partners. They are geographically close. They sit in the center of the world'€™s largest and fastest-growing trade hub. They each have strengths that are complementary.

Indonesia has comparative advantages in manufacturing, a young population and a mushrooming middle class; it is well positioned, despite competitive nudges from near-neighbors like Vietnam, to secure another manufacturing boom. Australia has clear strengths in services, energy, health, logistics, animal products and education.

Yet Australia and Indonesia are bizarre outliers. Most geographically close neighbors trade successfully with each other. But Indonesia is not in Australia'€™s top 10 trading partners, and Australia just scrapes into Indonesia'€™s top 10.

Part of the challenge, of course, is that Indonesians need to know more about Australia, and Australians need to know about Indonesia. Australians need to get beyond Bali to show a much deeper appreciation of the many worlds within the world of Indonesia. The key words, which insiders say the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, demonstrated when in Jakarta last week, are trust and respect.

It must be hoped that the resetting of the Australia-Indonesia relationship by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Turnbull '€” replete with impromptu smiles and laughter '€” was an important step towards building a deeper relationship. As the leaders discussed, it is time to accelerate negotiations over an Indonesia-Australia Closer Economic Partnership Agreement and to build sustainable collaborations on infrastructure and the digital economy.

The Succeeding Together report is complementary, acting as another catalyst for our nations to think and act differently so as to more successfully compete in global markets.

A poor result, of course, would be that, when faced with a critical challenge, the two nations failed to move quickly enough to exploit a truly historic opportunity. Imagine the consequences of being too slow.
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The writer is the director of the Australia-Indonesia Centre. The Succeeding Together report is available at
www.australiaindonesiacentre.org.