Mr Peter Pang, the President of Bosch (China), and a graduate of the University of Western Australia has won the 2010 CPA Australian Alumni of the Year writes Sophie Loras.

Mr Pang was born in Tianjin, and after leaving school in 1968 in Hong Kong, moved to Australia where he studied for his Electronics Engineering degree at the University of Western Australia.

After graduating, a road trip to Australia’s east coast landed him a job with Bosch in Melbourne as an electronics development engineer. By 1998, Mr Pang had progressed through the company to become the Engineering Director for Bosch Australia. During that period he is credited with building in Australia, a world class engineering test centre, electronic laboratories, EMC test facilities, ABS test track and a new business unit for body electronics for Bosch worldwide.

In 1998, Mr Pang was transferred to Germany to develop the body electronics business for the European, US and Asian car markets. Over a five-year period Mr Pang secured projects from Audi, Daimler Benz, Fiat, Ford, GM, Hyundai and VW.

He was sent to China in 2002 to develop business opportunities for Bosch in the emerging Chinese market and became President of Bosch (China) a year later. Within three years, all of Bosch Group’s 15 business divisions had established a manufacturing base in China.

In 2009, Bosch’s sales in China reached RMB 27.4 billion making it the company’s third largest country for Bosch in sales after Germany and the US. Cumulative investment in China has exceeded RMB 15 billion.

In line with Bosch’s drive for sustainable development in China, Mr Pang has been a big advocate in following principles of safety, environmental protection and energy saving and in 2009, 40,000 training days were invested for associate development.

Mr Pang has received numerous awards in China, including the ‘Outstanding CEO Award’ from the China Association of Enterprise with Foreign Investment, ‘China Automotive Industry Outstanding Person Award’ from CAAM among others, as well as the ‘Silver Magnolia Award’ from the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Profile: Peter Pang
President, Bosch China
The University of Western Australia
Winner: 2010 CPA Alumni of the Year

As an alumnus of the University of Western Australia, I am indeed honoured to be the winner of the Australia China Alumni of the Year award. I would like to thank CPA Australia for the sponsorship and the Australia China Alumni Association for organising this award event and in providing opportunities and venues for the China-based alumni to maintain business and social networking and contacts.

My relationship with Australia began in 1969 when I went to Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, as a student to study electronics engineering at The University of Western Australia. I always wanted to become an engineer as far as I could remember and the magic of electronics fascinated me. The University of Western Australia was the only university in Australia offering undergraduate course in electronics engineering at that time. After graduation, I joined Bosch in 1973 as an electronics development engineer in Melbourne. I was ready to make my contributions to the automotive industry.

Following closely behind the US counter part, the Australian government introduced automotive exhaust emission regulations in the 70’s even ahead of the Europeans. Automotive electronics emerged as the answer to cleaner and better cars in the world. There were plenty of challenges and opportunities for a young electronics engineer to build his ambition and career on. There were so many good ideas and so little time that a working day would always pass without any dull moment. Looking back, the early years of my engineering career in Australia and the university time were the most enjoyable time I have had.

Step by step I moved into engineering management because the projects were getting larger both in size and number. In 1981 I became the manager of the development department and in 1990 the Director of Engineering and Alternate Member of the Board of Management in Bosch Australia. In 1998, I was assigned to Bosch in Germany to become the Vice President of Body Electronics with world wide responsibility.

China joined the WTO in 2001. Bosch management in Stuttgart saw the start of a new wave of economic development in China. I was asked to come to China at the end of 2002 as the president of Bosch in China. In the last eight years, our consolidated sales revenue to third party in China have grown by more than 300 percent to reach 27.4 billion RMB in 2009, employing over 21,000 associates. Our results in China has been very rewarding even though there have been many challenges. We have all witnessed and benefited from the miraculous growth of the Chinese economy.

The experience I gained in my university days has influenced decisively my personal and career development. Situated on the north bank of the wide and blue Swan River, the University of Western Australia was the most beautiful university in Australia from my memory. I remember the air was so clean and the sky was so blue that I felt I could see deep into the universe every time I looked up the summer sky. The weather was always sunny in summer, perfect for outdoor and sporting activities. Therefore going to the beach was the most popular thing to do. Perth has many kilometres of long, beautiful white-sand-beaches stretching along the Indian Ocean coastline dotted sparsely with sun-tanned Australians. This free and pure environment was most conducive for studying and character building.

The Australian people are the most friendly, polite and helpful people I’ve ever known. I remembered on my first trip to Perth in March 1969, my plane was delayed for four hours due to a cyclone near Darwin. I was most grateful and impressed when I arrived at the Perth airport at three o’clock in the morning to see my host family Mr. and Mrs. Muir there waiting to take me to the St. George’s College where I stayed for the duration of my university studies. We woke up the caretaker of the college, Mr. Dixon, at four o’clock in the morning to show the way to my room. He was most cheerful and helped me with the suitcases. It was a very touching and personal experience right from the start, and I could recall many similar encounters during my student days in Perth.

Studying in Australia was my first experience overseas. Even though Australia is a very easy going country, there were many new experiences which would challenge my way of thinking and took me out of the comfort zone I was used to back home. It took me the best part of the first year to learn about, and accept a different culture.

When I look back today, I believe this was one of the most valuable learning I have picked up from my earlier years of studying in Australia. It has opened up my mind to learn from different cultures and ideas as well as to look at challenges in a much broader context. It has enriched me as a person and helped me in personal and career development in all the countries I’ve worked in over the years. ■

*Picture: Mr Lawrence Lau, winner of the 2009 ANZ Alumni Award for Banking with Mr Peter Pang and Ms Sarah Stewart, the ACAA’s Director of Development in Shanghai, during the 2010 finalists’ reception at the World Expo Australian pavilion in Shanghai in May.

To read more about the winners of the 2010 Australia China Alumni Association Awards, click here.

For more information about the Australia China Alumni Association and for the full list of 2010 Australia China Alumni Award finalists, visit: www.austchinaalumni.org