Need To Know
Bob Lyon
A New Phase For ANZ’s Pacific Banker
For 12 years Bob Lyon from the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Bank has loomed large on the business landscape of the Pacific Islands region, both as a managing Director Pacific and as a champion of the Australia- Pacific Islands Business Council. In late 2005 Lyon announced his retirement from the position citing the need to try new challenges.
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Bob
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Now the non-executive Chairman of ANZ's Pacific business, Lyon will be helping his successor, Mike Guerin and the ANZ's customers make a smooth transition. Lyon's new position means he will get more time off, but he has taken on new roles with the Foundation for Development Cooperation in Brisbane and at the Australian National University's Pacific program, which will keep him in touch with the region. Lyon plans to move to Denarau, Fiji next year.
The ANZ has 48 branches in 11 Pacific island countries, including American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga and East Timor.
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In your 12 years in the role what stands out for you as the major highlights?
There's been a lot of them. Well, getting stoned in Papua New Guinea during the Sandline affair was pretty interesting. It's watching, I suppose, how Pacific countries have grappled with things like globalization and have been able to cope. The world was different 12 years ago. Things like September 11 and other issues have changed people's attitudes. On the other hand, the countries have had plenty of challenges of their own, coups and migration. from Fiji, PNG and Solomon Islands and have survived.
What has given you the greatest sense of professional achievement?
There are probably three areas: the continued growth in ANZ's business to now be the biggest bank in the South Pacific and probably the biggest private sector company; the way our national staff have developed and grown with the business to a position where there is significantly less reliance on expatriates and our Pacific Islands staff are applying for and winning jobs, not only in the Pacific Islands, but Australia, New Zealand and Asia; and ANZ's "Banking the Unbanked" (rural banking) project, which started in 2004. This initiative has been immensely satisfying and has received widespread acclaim around the world.
And what has been your biggest professional disappointment?
The most disappointing aspect of my time in the Pacific has been the slow pace of reform in most Pacific countries including corporate governance. Despite numerous reports and incentives, Pacific countries have not kept pace with the rest of the world and this shows in economic and human resource indicators.
What regional economies do you find particularly exciting at the moment?
I think an exciting country is Papua New Guinea, which I've just come back from a couple of days ago-and it really is an exciting place with the oil and resources and the commodity prices are booming and places like China are hungry for resources, and a place like Papua New Guinea has got those resources. I think the same for Fiji. People have rediscovered Fiji as a tourist destination and also as a place to invest, and so Fiji has got quite a good future, too. Other places like Samoa, which don't have a lot of resources, have managed to cope reasonably well through good management.
What advice will you be giving your successor, Mike Guerin, about operating in the Pacific?
Well, I think the main thing is to get to know the countries, get to know the people, try to understand the cultures, and that people are coming from a slightly different position. If you are going to be successful in this region and try and help people, then you need to understand what matters to them.
