“We look at the people who are mid-career working for us and we find we have people who speak fluent Bahasa, fluent Japanese or even fluent Mandarin; but if I look at the youngsters that are joining us now it almost feels like we have gone backwards.”

– Marius Kloppers, Chief Executive Officer, BHP Billiton Limited, quoted in PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index, Melbourne, 2008.

The full report has all manner of interesting details on Australia’s engagement with Asia. For New Mandala readers with even a passing interest in such matters it is well worth a look.