Welcome Remarks by Mr Teng Theng Dar, CEO of SBF at Orientation Briefing 5 May 09 (Friday)
2.15pm, Seminar Room 2 (Level 21, Keppel Towers)
A very good afternoon to members of SBF.
Welcome to the orientation briefing organized by SBF.
The objective of the first part of today's briefing is to let new members of SBF
know who is SBF. And what role does SBF play in the business community.
Hence, I shall start by giving you a brief introduction of how SBF was formed.
In the late 1990s, the government saw a need for a more comprehensive organisation and representation
of the Singapore business community.
In 2001, Parliament passed the SBF Act, by which all Singapore registered companies with a paid-up share capital of S$0.5 million and above shall become statutory members of the SBF.
SBF was then incorporated on 1 April 2002.
As the country's apex business chamber, SBF champions the interests of the business community in trade, investment and industrial relations. It represents and promotes the interests and aspirations of Singapore-based business enterprises at home and abroad.
Our mission is to be the bridge between the government and Singapore businesses to create a conducive business environment.
Internationally, SBF also represents the business community to promote trade expansion and business networking.
12 of the major local and foreign representative business chambers, as well as trade associations, such as the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, American Chamber of Commerce and Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, are constituent members of SBF.
SBF works closely with government agencies, such as the Ministry for Trade and Industry, SPRING Singapore, Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), International Enterprise Singapore, Economic Development Board and Ministry of Manpower to foster close public-private sector understanding and partnership.
A very current example of concern to all of us now, is the Influenza A (H1N1-2009) also called the Swine flu. SBF has been working very closely with the with the government agencies eg Ministry of Health on health advisory, Ministry of Manpower on workplace advisory, SPRING Singapore on Business Continuity management. In fact, SBF is the national BCM focal point for businesses. Working with all in concert, SBF has issued the tripartite advisory guideline for workplaces to all members immediately after the Labour day. A copy is also issued to all of you today. Pls note the various resources and website, in particular the SBF website www.sbf.org.sg which provides you with the necessary links to keep all updated on the flu update and precautionary measures. SBF also issues a special edition of e-newsletter to keep members informed of the flu situation and resources on a regular basis. I would like to bring members attention to the "Briefing on Influenza A (H1N1) and BCM" which SBF is organizing for members on next Monday 11 May. You will hear from the regional advisor from the UN office, MOH, MOM and BCM expert. We expect more than 1000 members to attend. All members are welcomed to attend.
Another example is the Budget 2009. SBF had sought to gather members' feedback for Singapore Budget 2009 to help businesses stay afloat amidst the global financial crisis and economic slow down. Pre-Budget Dialogue with Bussiness Community was jointly organized with REACH in Nov 2008. In addition, together with SMa and ASME, a business task force was set up to gather inputs via surveys and focus group discussions to gauge business sentiments and feedback on the ground. SBF had taken the initiative to organize a Closed Door Dialogue Session between the Government involving Ministers and Private Sector (11 Dec).Collectively, all these feedback were channeled to the respective governmental ministries such as MTI and MOF leading up to the Budget 2009.
With these, SBF was glad that the government responded with a most probusiness extra ordinary budget 2009 to help businesses.
Another important advocacy example is the FTAs. To date, Singapore has concluded 13 FTAs.
SBF's role in FTA negotiations is to proactively facilitate pre-FTA dialogue and feedback sessions with businesses, then communicate their inputs to government agencies. After the FTAs are concluded, SBF conducts outreach seminars to help companies understand how FTAs can help them.
To-date SBF has signed 73 Memorandums of Understanding with more than 44 overseas business chambers, trade associations and government agencies, further strengthening the recognition of SBF as the country's apex business chamber.
We continually collect feedback from our members to gauge how we can further sharpen our edge as the apex business chamber. We are seeing improving results from our surveys. For example, 70% considered our industryrelated dialogues to be important in furthering the interests of our business community.
To conclude,
- SBF is extending its reach and more members are participating in our activities. Last year, SBF had 257 activities and these attracted 20,614 member participants.
- We seek to create an environment where companies can thrive and grow.
- We continue to proactively engage the business community to build an apex business chamber that represents and champions their collective interests at home and abroad.
- In just over seven years, many countries and business communities overseas have come to recognize SBF as the Apex business chamber of Singapore, and is their first point of contact.
- We will continue to strengthen and leverage our global links to develop strong and long-lasting business relationships with companies, business chambers and government agencies to the mutual benefit of all.
With this, let me hand the session over to our Corporate Communications Director, Gerald de Cotta to give you an overview of SBF's services. Thank you.
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