BIZSpoke | 12 July 2024 - Strategic Areas to Bolster Singapores Economic Competitiveness and Sustainability Discussed at the 2nd Future Ready Businesses (FRB) Dialogue

12 JULY 2024

Strategic Areas to Bolster Singapore’s Economic Competitiveness and Sustainability Discussed at the 2nd Future Ready Businesses (FRB) Dialogue^®

Held on 27 June, the 2^nd FRB Dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat was well-attended by over 300 SBF members, C-Suite executives, and business leaders. The discussions centred around Singapore’s Industry Transformation Roadmap (ITMs), focusing on six key pillars: Productivity, Technology and Innovation, Job Redesign, Expanding Global Footprint, Resilience and Sustainability. These strategic areas aim to bolster Singapore’s economic competitiveness and sustainability. The dialogue highlighted three key aspects of Singapore’s economic strategy – Anticipating new trends such as advance manufacturing, green technology, and AI-readiness; Advancing Transformation and Future-Ready Businesses through upskilling, reskilling and life-long learning to enhance productivity and create higher value-added jobs; and Aligning Ecosystem Interest by fostering strong partnerships between government and businesses, especially in response to challenges posed by an ageing population.

Prelude to SABS®: Introduction of Themes, Speakers and Highlights

In the lead-up to the Singapore Apex Business Summit (SABS) which will take place from 23 to 25 July 2024, a media conference was held to introduce the themes, speakers and highlights of SABS. The Summit will include a Community Marketplace where businesses can learn about corporate philanthropy and volunteerism to get started on their corporate purpose journey. SABS will also bring participants on exciting company visits to learn on future-ready practices and operations in a series of Future-Ready Business Spotlights.

Overwhelming Turnout at Joint Investor Forum for Johor Singapore-SEZ

SBF launched the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) Report on 11 July at the JS-SEZ Joint Investor Forum, jointly organised by SBF and Invest Johor, which was attended by more than 230 businesses. Through survey, dialogues and focus group discussions, we identified 3 critical success factors and over 40 recommendations to address 4 focus areas: availability of talent, movement of people, movement of goods and investment facilitation.

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#ICYMI

Ambitious target for SBF by 2030 shared during interview with ST

SBF CEO Kok Ping Soon shared that by 2030, SBF plans to increase membership from 30,000 to 40,000 Singapore-based companies, increase engagement from 13,000 to 25,000 members and non-member companies, and double partnerships with government agencies and private organisations, from 150 to 300. He said: “SBF’s key approach is to strengthen our network of partners across both the government and private sectors so that we can mobilise their resources, expertise and networks to scale our impact to the business community."

NMP Neil Parekh on Corporate Service Providers Bill

Speaking in Parliament on 2 July, NMP and SBF Council Member Neil Parekh commented on the Corporate Service Provider Bill that aims to enhance transparency, combat illicit financial activities and maintain Singapore's reputation as a trusted global financial hub, saying that it “presents a promising future for our economic growth and will create an enhanced investment climate for all investors in Singapore.” He also pointed out three possible operational and cost implications for businesses.

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SUPPORTED EVENTS

Singapore-Indonesia Tech Talent Exchange

Calling all companies in tech! At the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat on 29 April 2024, the two countries jointly announced the launch of the Tech:X programme, which will:

Facilitate young tech professionals from Singapore and Indonesia to work in each other’s countries
Enable businesses to access a wider pool of young tech talents
Facilitate the rotation or transfer of high-potential employees between a company’s Singapore and Indonesia offices.

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GCNS SME Series #2 - Navigate Evolving Sustainability and Reporting Demands

Join us on 2 August for the second session of the three-part UN Global Compact Network Singapore SME Series 2024, titled "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Navigating the alphabet soup of standards and customer demands". The session will uncover the complexities of sustainability and reporting amidst evolving standards and rising stakeholder expectations.