FCCS Focus Magazine January 2013 by The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

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Focus

The Magazine of the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

n i a r T To

n i a t Re The Major Learning Trends and Indicators for 2013 within APAC | 25 Ways To Retain Your Most Valued Talent | Training for SMEs in Singapore: the Silent Weapon | Partnering with Local Universities

January 2013

www.fccsingapore.com

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CONTENTS

January 2013

EDITORIAL

SHORT NEWS

FOCUS MAGAZINE

French Companies in Singapore

January 2013

Christofle Celebrates the Grand Re-Opening of Its Flagship Boutique

SHORT NEWS

Gemalto wins Asian Human Capital Award 2012 L’Oréal’s Advanced Research Centre Opens in Biopolis Airbus Sells More A380s and A350 XWBs to SIA ATR Inaugurates Its New Training Centre in Singapore Christofle Celebrates the Grand Re-Opening of Its Flagship Boutique Paris - Singapore: The Fresh Take on Fashion & Home Design Trends ESSEC Business School Investing S$40 Million in a New Campus in Singapore The Best of Paris Haute Couture in Singapore Alioscopy and JCDecaux Join Forces to Offer Innovative Advertising Solutions

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COVER STORY - TRAIN TO RETAIN

Keeping in STEP with Changing Workplace Needs The Major Learning Trends and Indicators for 2013 & Beyond within the APAC Region 25 Ways To Retain Your Most Valued Talent LVMH Invests in Human Resources & Opens Training Hub in Singapore Bo Le: a Cultural Change to Attract, Develop and Retain the Best Talents in Asia Training for SMEs in Singapore: the Silent Weapon The Keys to Implement a Training and Development Programme A Centre of Excellence for Learning and Development A Rapidly Growing Video Game Studio With High Ambitions Partnering with Local Universities Learning Opportunities Moving to the East

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CSR BEST PRACTICES

The FCCS Engages its Members on CSR

FCCS BUSINESS SERVICES

Newly Set Up Companies The FCCS Highlights French Expertise at Medical Fair Asia 2012

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FCCS HR & TRAINING SERVICES

The FCCS HR Department: An Efficient Solution for Companies Upcoming Training Modules, Feb-May 2013

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

FCCS Welcome To Singapore CEO Series Asia Committee Finance Committee Legal & Tax Committee Energy/Infrastucture Committee Marketing & Communication Committee Luxury & Premium Retail Committee Sustainability Committee Entrepreneurs Committee ICT Committee Business Women Network Committee R&D Committee FCCS Events French Marché La Paulée de Singapour FCCS Futsal Tournament FCCS New Members FCCS Privilege Card

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Tay Ai Hoon, General Manager of HPL Properties Pte Ltd, and Ms Emmy Tellier, Retail Manager of Christofle Singapore helped with the ribbon-cutting ceremony to signify the official re-opening of the flagship boutique.

Renowned French luxury silverware and home accessories brand, Christofle re-opened its flagship boutique on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 at Hilton Shopping Gallery. This is the first time the historic boutique of over 25 years had undergone a revamp as part of the brand’s rejuvenation strategy. The re-opening, graced by Mr Thierry Oriez, President & CEO of Christofle, as well as members of the media, socialites and VIP guests, sparkled with sheer elegance, luxury and sophistication. Guests were treated to a grand and exquisite display of Christofle’s Haute Orfèvrerie collection outside the boutique. In a classic exposition of a colour scheme of black and silver, each piece was accompanied with display cards that introduced the designer

and design concept. The centrepiece that caught everyone’s attention was the Sailing Boat (Voilier) by Darko Mladenovic, that featured a majestic three-masted silver-crafted ship in a resolutely contemporary style. Mr Thierry Oriez, President & CEO of Christofle, Mr Benjamin Bilteryst, Managing Director of Christofle Asia-Pacific, Ms

Inside the boutique, Christofle’s Master Engraver of 22 years, Mr Marc Rapaic, who flew to Singapore specially from Paris, helped guests engrave on the spot their name or special messages on Christofle silver pieces. It was clear that with this re-opening, Christofle has marked yet another historic feat in its 180 year old legacy in reaching out to its valued customers and reinforcing its position as a renowned quality and luxurious French silverware and home accessories brand in the world. F

Paris - Singapore: The Fresh Take on Fashion & Home Design Trends On October 30th, 2012, the Paris Region Economic Development Agency (PREDA) gathered 125 Singaporean and Southeast Asian journalists, associations, key players and professionals of the fashion and home design industries at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The 2012 “Paris-Singapore: The Fresh Take On Fashion & Home Design Trends” conference discussed the fashion and design trends and evolution, as well as the vital role the Paris trade shows play in showcasing them. The conference aimed

also at expanding international business development opportunities between Singapore and Paris based Fashion and Home Design trade shows and industries. The event was inaugurated by His Excellency the Ambassador of France to Singapore, Mr Olivier Caron, and Mr Jean-Luc MargotDuclot, Senior Vice-President of the Paris Region Economic Development Agency. Paris Trade Shows Organisers came all the way from Paris including: Mr Etienne Cochet, Managing director at SAFI (Maison&Objet), Ms Marie-Laure Bellon, CEO at Eurovet (Mode City, Salon International de la Lingerie, Interﬁliere…), and Mr Boris Provost, Head of Communications & International Development at WSN (Who's Next, Pret A Porter Paris).

Together with Singaporean experts, they discussed how these trends are reﬂected in the trade shows as well as in today’s market, everyday experience and consumer behaviours. Singaporean speakers included: Ms Catherine Yam from Les Affaires; Mr Paul Khor from Actually and Mr Thomas Tan representing the Textile and Fashion Federation (Singapore); Mr Robert Tomlin from the Design Singapore Council and Mr. Patrick Chia for the Singapore Furniture Industry Council. All agreed on the huge potential provided by the Paris region trade shows and conferences given their international presence, commercial opportunities, and access to markets. The trade shows in the Paris Region are great international business platforms for visitors and exhibitors to promote their products and services at one of the world’s biggest marketplace. It was reminded that Paris is the only city in the world to offer such a complete stage for fashion and home design trade shows. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

CEO Series / Asia Committee

Strategy of Orange Business Services in Asia Pacific Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and a strategic place for most of the member companies of the FCCS.

Therefore, for this third edition of our CEO Series, the FCCS focused on the success of Orange and how they manage to get to leadership positions in most of their business activities. Furthermore, the FCCS was very honoured that for the ﬁrst time, the CEO Series was led by a woman: Ms Yee-May Leong, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Orange Business Services. With over 20 years of experience spanning various aspects of the information technology and communica-

tions industry, Yee-May provides strategic direction and insight to achieve Orange Business Services’ proﬁtability and customer satisfaction targets in the region. She also manages business development and direct channel activities in key markets. Ms Leong presented to her counterparts the strategy of her company in Asia Paciﬁc. A roundtable discussion followed that gave invited guests a unique opportunity to share, compare and learn practical, actionable things from each other. F

Doing Business in Philippines The Philippines have been a constantly growing economy for the past 9 years, presenting a tremendous amount of potential areas for development. With its strategic business location, its liberal and business friendly economy and its quality manpower resources, the country becomes more and more attractive for companies.

Two prestigious speakers analysed Philippines’ business risks and opportunities: Mr Joey Cuyegkeng, ING’s Philippine Economist and Mr Dane Chamorro, Director, Global Risks Analysis, Asia Pacific. Mr Cuyegkeng presented a full picture of Philippines economic environment. He

This breakfast talk organised in collaboration with the Belgian Luxembourg Business Group and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce was designed to help our members anticipate their business activities in Philippines and get further insights on political and operational risks in Philippines.

started with a comparative overview of the financial market and then described the economic environment from growth opportunities to inflation and monetary policy. Mr Chamorro then balanced opportunities for investment in Philippines with political and regulatory realities, identifying key obstacles to be considered when implementing business in Philippines, such as corruption, traditional business structures etc. The presentations were followed by a very active Q&A session where our members shared their various experiences on doing business in Philippines and identified opportunities for growth. F

Doing Business in Myanmar Identiﬁed as one of the next business destinations, Myanmar is getting more and more attention from companies: how is the ﬂedging nation going to evolve? Presented by three eminent speakers, this breakfast talk gave participants a detailed overview on how to anticipate the challenges and get the most of the business opportunities in Myanmar. After a brief reminder of Myanmar history, Mr Dominique Causse, Economic Counsellor, French Embassy in Rangoon, presented the advantages and challenges of Myanmar and explained the French strategy.

Mr Gabriel Aw, VP of Investment Promotion and Marketing, Singbridge International, presented the latest economic developments, business opportunities, and challenges in Myanmar. Mr Arnaud Lamagnere, General Counsel - East Asia, Schneider Electric, gave an overview of the legal environment in Myanmar and explained the progressive lifting of the European and US sanctions. Finally he described the

laws and practices governing foreign investment in Myanmar with a focus on the new foreign investment law. F

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FCCS PATRON MEMBERS

FOCUS MAGAZINE January 2013

The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore would like to thank its Patron Members for their continuous support.

FCCS Focus Magazine is published by the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (FCCS). The views and opinions expressed in its columns do not necessarily reflect those of the FCCS members and management.

director of publication Carine Lespayandel chief editor Nicolas Avril editorial contributor Marie-Charlotte Macaud design & layout Florence Baret advertising Nicolas Avril Florence Baret colour separation & printing NPE Print Communications Pte Ltd cover photo ÂŠ KROMKRATHOG / shutterstock.com

January 2013 4,000 copies MICA (P) NÂ°126/09/2012

The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore 541 Orchard Road #09-01 Liat Towers Singapore 238881 Tel: +65 6933 1350 Fax: +65 6933 1398 www.fccsingapore.com info@fccsingapore.com

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EDITORIAL

January 2013

Managing the Human Capital in Singapore n a dynamic and growing environment the Human Capital comes at the center of the focus for all types of organisations.

Being a small company or a big MNC, the care provided to the workforce is vital to ensure the grip on the current trends and successes of tomorrow. Singapore is a meritocratic society and it has been a Singapore’s government strategy for long to implement fair and merit-based employment practices. Singapore has a very diverse workforce in terms of its ethnic, religious, age and gender makeup. Offering fair employment treatment and respect also aims at helping employers to retain valued employees to sustain and grow their businesses, nurturing employees’ motivation to put in their best for the organisation. The encouragement from the government to support the diversity in terms of age and gender has no other subject than widening the pool of candidates that employers can recruit from, increasing their chances of finding the best person for the job. In 2011, the labour workforce in Singapore represented 3.2 millions of employees including 1.1 millions of foreigners. The average age of Singapore workforce is 41, and this workforce is well educated as 45% are diplomas or degrees holders. Singapore concentrates regional headquarters for all Asian countries and under that prospective feeds a need for laboratories of research and programme developments of the local talents. The renowned universities such as ESSEC have understood it and developed specific partnerships and Asian talent programmes in coordination with local universities. The Human Capital factor is clearly well identified as a target for future. The Ministry of Education has recently launched a revision of education systems and programmes and allocates a

substantial part of its budget in training subsidies for the vocational training for key sectors of industries of key functions in line with the need of for Singapore growth (services, tourism industry, bio-medical research, aerospace…). On another hand, managing the Human Capital in Asia and specifically in Singapore involves cross-culture awareness, one of the high requirements of nonAsian companies, and makes of the diversity a competitive advantage. Understanding employees is also understanding the markets and for most of the companies their end customers. On a HR level, the key factor of success is to attract, grow and retain talented local employees to bring them to top management positions. Thus the focus on a successful intercultural integration means deploying efforts in enhanced communication and mutual understanding, awareness of cultural differences amongst the teams and anchoring the belonging feeling and loyalty to the company. Favouring the gender diversity will also help to create an innovative and productive working environment. This is one of the aims of the Business Women Network from FCCS and other Business Women associations, to promote perception and behavior changes in that aspect. Efforts also need to be made to be identified and recognised as an attractive employer. As part of their role, HR practitioners have also to deploy HR marketing strategies to create brand awareness. In conclusion, in a fast changing and modernising environment, the field of HR in Singapore demands to be on a very dynamic trend, driven by innovation, creativity and fast adaptation to growing and moving business needs. Caroline SIRIEIX Regional HR Manager, Air France FCCS Business Women Network, FCCS HR Committee

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SHORT NEWS

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French Companies in Singapore

January 2013

Gemalto wins Asian Human Capital Award 2012 pany has ever failed for having grown too many talents!"

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security announced having won the prestigious Asian Human Capital Award 2012. The award honours innovative and impactful people practices adopted by organisations with a presence in Asia. Gemalto was recognised for the company's human capital strategy of Sustainable Innovation Leadership. It is the ﬁrst time that a European company wins the award. This Sustainable Innovation Leadership award praises Gemalto's key Human Resource practices that emphasize promotion from within, structure talent maturity through its "3 Axis Mobility" approach which allows employees to move across geographies, functions and business units, grow managers as humanistic developers, encourage employee development and foster a culture of innovation. In addition, Gemalto's senior management was pointed

In Asia, Gemalto has developed 17 programmes speciﬁcally to address the region's uniqueness and culture, in addition to the company-wide corporate programmes around the world.

out for being strongly involved in the shaping of the company's Human Resource practices and in employee development.

"’People is one of Gemalto's three core values" said Olivier Piou, Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of Gemalto. "We believe our people are the core of our Company's success, and our commitment to our employees gives Gemalto the competitive advantage to excel now and in the future. No com-

"Being recognised by the Asian Human Capital Award for Gemalto's innovative human capital strategy of Sustainable Innovation Leadership is most encouraging" added Tan Teck Lee, Chief Innovation & Technology Ofﬁcer and Asia President of Gemalto. "On top of Gemalto's global programmes, our 17 Asian programmes for leadership development, recognition and innovation enable employees to develop local and global careers. We are building a strong workforce and are pleased to be able to attract the top talent in the region." F

L’Oréal’s Advanced Research Centre Opens in Biopolis

The L’Oréal Group has opened an Advanced Research Centre in A*STAR’s Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) to plug into the world-class research environment in Biopolis and Singapore. This is part of L’Oréal’s strategy to foster relations with local centres of scientiﬁc excellence and internationalize its research to be closer to consumers in support of its strategy to gain one billion new consumers over the next 10 to 15 years. IMB’s expertise in skin biology research, to-

gether with the ethnically diverse population in Singapore, complements L’Oréal’s interest in understanding human skin diversity. This sparked off IMB’s ﬁrst partnership with L’Oréal in 2010, which aimed to reconstruct Asian skin from cultured cells. After encouraging results from this project, L’Oréal Research & Innovation (R&I) decided to open an Advanced Research Centre in Biopolis, which currently houses eight scientists. They are now expanding their collaborations with IMB, BMRC’s Skin Biology Cluster Platform and beyond to the biomedical research community in Biopolis and Singapore.

“We are more than happy with the results we are getting with IMB and thanks to the local scientiﬁc and technological expertise in Singapore, we have extended our range and network of collaborations and widened the new center’s ﬁeld of research

to ‘Skin biology’”, said Stéphane Ortiz, head of L’Oréal’s Asia R&I. “There are talented young scientists in Singapore, professors from around the world and a variety of laboratories, research institutions, start-ups, universities of all sizes and disciplines. These are ideal situations for converting scientific concepts into prototypes for products or evaluation methods. Without doubt, Singapore offers an outstanding environment for piloting science-driven innovation.” Prof Birgitte Lane, Executive Director of IMB, said: “We are very excited about the L’Oréal research center in IMB as L’Oréal is a global brand that is committed to advancing skin science for the benefit of skin care. This will allow us to tap on each other’s strengths, to better understand Asian skin, which will bring many applications, from personal care to healthcare solutions. We welcome L’Oréal into the lively scientific community at Biopolis. They join a growing number of companies bringing their research into Biopolis, and will strengthen the healthy cluster of publicprivate open research partnerships that is developing here.” F

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SHORT NEWS

January 2013

French Companies in Singapore

Airbus Sells More A380s and A350 XWBs to SIA Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced that it will order 25 more widebody aircraft from Airbus, comprising ﬁve double deck A380s and 20 A350-900s. The aircraft will be operated on the carrier’s long range and regional services, offering maximum comfort and efﬁciency for high density and medium capacity routes.

the A380, now has 19 aircraft in service, ﬂying to 10 destinations in Europe, the US and the Asia-Paciﬁc region from its Singapore base. In the mid-size category, the new A350 XWB order will see the airline double its backlog for the all-new aircraft to 40. The A350-900s will be used by the airline on both medium and long haul routes.

The latest A380 order will be the third to be placed by the airline, bringing the total number of A380s ordered by SIA to 24. The airline, which was the launch operator for

“This major order will provide us with additional growth opportunities and is consistent with our longstanding policy of maintaining a young and modern ﬂeet. It

demonstrates our commitment to the Singapore hub, and our confidence in the strength of the market for premium fullservice travel,” said Goh Choon Phong, CEO, Singapore Airlines. “The aircraft will enable us to further enhance our network, providing more travel options to our customers. They will also feature the next generation of in-flight cabin products to keep us at the forefront of airline product innovation.” “This announcement from one of the world’s most prestigious carriers underscores the unrivalled comfort and efficiency offered by Airbus widebody aircraft,” said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers, Airbus. “As Singapore Airlines has shown, the A380 has proven itself to be a game changer at the top end of the market. We are now set to bring new levels of efficiency to the mid-size segment with the arrival of the A350 XWB. We are extremely proud to count Singapore Airlines as a leading airline partner on both of these innovative aircraft programmes.” F

ATR Inaugurates Its New Training Centre in Singapore ATR, one of the world's leading aerospace companies and the largest manufacturer of regional aircraft, officially inaugurated in December a new Training Centre in Singapore both for commercial aircraft pilots and maintenance crew. It is located in the Seletar Aerospace Park, a major hub for the Singapore aerospace industry. The new centre has the capacity to train more than 600 pilots and maintenance crew per year. The facility features the new Full Flight Simulator (FFS), an integrated suite of flight training devices and advanced classroom settings to provide both pilot and maintenance training for multiple ATR aircraft platforms. The new FFS enables training for both ATR 42-600s and ATR 72-600s variants. Fully equipped, the facility and its flight training equipment have recently been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

“We are pleased to expand our presence

with this new training facility focused on the rapidly growing regional carrier market in South East Asia," said Filippo Bagnato, ATR Chief Executive Ofﬁcer. ATR and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the lead government agency for planning and executing strategies, have closely collaborated to launch this new training facility. “We are pleased to have the strong support of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. Our facility in Singapore will enable ATR Eastern Support, ATR’s dedicated customer support centre for Asia Paciﬁc which has already been operating in Singapore for close to 25 years, to bring our comprehensive regional support services offering to a higher level hand-in-hand with the industry and public sector,” added Mr Bagnato.

ATR currently offers training services for its operators at 4 locations worldwide: Toulouse, Paris, Johannesburg and Singapore. This new training facility completes ATR’s offer in Singapore, where it already has a Customer Support Centrer and a warehouse for Asia-Pacific operators. More than 250 ATR airplanes fly in AsiaPacific operated by some 50 airlines in the Asia Pacific region. F

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SHORT NEWS

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French Companies in Singapore

January 2013

Christofle Celebrates the Grand Re-Opening of Its Flagship Boutique Tay Ai Hoon, General Manager of HPL Properties Pte Ltd, and Ms Emmy Tellier, Retail Manager of Christofle Singapore helped with the ribbon-cutting ceremony to signify the official re-opening of the flagship boutique.

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SHORT NEWS

January 2013

French Companies in Singapore

ESSEC Business School Investing S$40 Million in a New Campus in Singapore build a ﬁve-storey building with 6,500 sqm built-in area on a 5,430 sqm plot on Nepal Hill, in one-north business park. This facility will triple the school’s training capacity in terms of numbers of undergraduate and graduate students and executive education participants, compared to the present facilities in the National Library Building. It will also allow the faculty to triple from 11 today to 30+ faculty members in 2016-2017, in order to deliver world-class education and create Research. ESSEC Business School will build a new campus in Singapore, to be located in onenorth, an area dedicated to education and innovation amid universities, incubators and high-tech companies. With the support of Singapore government agencies, ESSEC has decided to

“The construction of ESSEC dedicated facilities in Nepal Hill is a milestone in our international development. This will accelerate the real bi-continental character of the School, and will trigger its identity. While one third of the students are “international” today, in ten years from now even

the word “international” will be forgotten, because of the bi or tri-continental identity. We are very proud to be part of the fascinating Asian Renaissance, and Singapore is an exceptional landmark to build our platform for Asia-Paciﬁc”, according to Dr Tapie, ESSEC Business School's Dean and President. The campus has been designed to welcome about 100 permanent staff members, including 30 professors, and 1,500 students and Executive participants every year. Designed by renowned Singaporean architect Dr Liu Thai Ker, the building was inspired by both European and Asian architectures, and aims to symbolise a bridge between the two worlds. The construction phase will begin in May 2013 and is expected to complete in December 2014. F

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SHORT NEWS

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French Companies in Singapore

January 2013

The Best of Paris Haute Couture in Singapore The best of the international fashion labels and Parisian Haute Couture descended upon The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Held at Marina Bay Sands, this highly anticipated nine-day fashion event featured the latest “prêt-à-porter” collection from international labels during the Women’s Fashion Week 2012 Singapore, while the French Couture Week 2012 Singapore showcased exquisite Haute Couture pieces from Parisian Haute Couture houses. Amongst some of fashion’s brightest luminaries, celebrities and VIPs at the French Couture Week 2012 Singapore included Ms Suzy Menkes, the formidable fashion critic of the International Herald Tribune, Mr Didier Grumbach, President of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, Ms Lyne CohenSolal, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Commerce and Craft, Dr Satoshi Onuma, President of the Bunka Fashion College, and Japanese designer Mr Kenzo Takada. Mr Mark Juliano, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Marina Bay Sands, said, “With the second installation of Women’s Fashion Week and French Couture Week Singapore, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands has raised the bar yet again as the leading fashion destination in Asia.”

“We take great pride in presenting a world-class platform for our retailers to showcase their best to a wider Asian and

international audience. With the outstanding architecture that The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands has to offer, this is a golden opportunity to show our support and commitment to our retailers in making this year’s event an unforgettable one.” Dr Frank Cintamani, Singapore’s Chairman and Founder of Fide Fashion Weeks array of fashion initiatives, said, “It is important to ﬁrst understand that Haute Couture embodies the very highest discipline in fashion. Only then we will appreciate that the future of Haute Couture must include Asia”.

FRENCH COUTURE WEEK 2012 SINGAPORE The four-day showcase of the highest form of fashion, Parisian Haute Couture, was the most exhilarating and spellbinding. Continuing last year’s debut showcase as a collective in Singapore, this year’s French Couture Week 2012 Singapore impressed with a stunning display of boundless creativity and imagination. Out of 8 to showcase, the 3 returning Parisian Haute Couturiers, who wowed the Singapore audience last year, were Christophe Josse, Gustavo Lins and Alexis Mabille.

Making their debut at French Couture Week 2012 Singapore were Haute Couturiers Bouchra Jarrar, Julien Fournié, Maurizio Galante, on aura tout vu by Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov, and Yiqing Yin. For his show at French Couture Week 2012 Singapore, Maurizo Galante specially created 15 new creations that showcased alongside his iconic retrospective pieces. Christophe Josse, Alexis Mabille and Yiqing Yin presented their Fall/Winter 2012 Haute Couture collection, while Julien Fournié presented his Fall/Winter 2012 Haute Couture combined with looks from his First Colours Collection (Spring/Summer 2011 Haute Couture). Gustavo Lins and Bouchra Jarrar presented a retrospective collection of their most inspiring creations while on aura tout vu by Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov presented looks from their two most recent collections. All participating Haute Couturiers reworked their show presentation or specially made new pieces for the Singapore show to give audiences here a fresh perspective. F TOP Pictures © Fide Fashion Week

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SHORT NEWS

January 2013

French Companies in Singapore

After the FCCS “Working Together Forum”, Alioscopy and JCDecaux Join Forces to Offer Innovative Advertising Solutions What makes us feel useful and proud at the FCCS is when we get feedback from our members about new business opportunities resulting from our events or actions. This story is a perfect illustration. It all started in April 2012 on the occasion of the second edition of our “Working Together Forum”, an event aimed at reinforcing business links between French SMEs and large corporations. During a whole afternoon, 300 B-to-B meetings

were organised for 76 participating companies. And during that afternoon, the SME Alioscopy had the opportunity to present its know-how and latest technologies to numerous MNCs, including JCDecaux Asia. Alioscopy is specialised in 3D displays, which show three-dimensional images instantly, without requiring cumbersome eyewear. Whether catching the eye, retain-

ing public attention or enhancing the understanding of complex imagery, Alioscopy’s 3D displays make 3D viewing easier and more user-friendly than ever before. JCDecaux, the number n°1 outdoor company in the world and n°1 in Asia Paciﬁc, develops activities in three complementary segments: street furniture, transport advertising and billboard. The company is also n°1 worldwide in transport advertising with concessions in 176 airports and 27 countries in metros, buses, trains, light-rail, tramways and airports, and n°1 worldwide in self-service bicycles. Thanks to its prestigious network in the largest cities, the busiest thoroughfares, the busiest airports, JCDecaux represents the ideal partner for Alioscopy’s latest technologies. During the Working Together Forum, synergies appeared between these two companies and resulted into collaborations in several campaigns in the Hong Kong MTR. The FCCS is proud to see concrete results of its efforts to reinforce business links between French SMEs and large groups. We are already planning the third edition of our Working Together Forum on 19 April 2013! F

ALIOSCOPY AND JCDECAUX ASIA JOIN FORCES FOR TWO CAMPAIGNS IN HONG KONG MTR The first campaign was running on one of the new smart JCDecaux Transport ad space in Hong Kong MTR (Central) for a well-known American TV Channel. This is one of the many brainchildren of MTR Advertising’s annual "Innovate" Festival that run from September to November 2012. For the second campaign, JCDecaux Transport has launched MTR's first glassesfree 3D TV for a famous watch brand. This new technology consists of a 42” screen in Tsim Sha Tsui station, which can be viewed on a 180-degree angle within 1.5 to 3 metres. The new smart ad space run from September to November 2012. Targeting to promote Innovative Zones at high-traffic MTR stations including Causeway Bay, Central, Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Tseung Kwan O, the theme of the new campaigns were based on interactivity and engagement using the latest screen, mobile and interactivity technology. F

TOP Alioscopy’s MTR's ﬁrst glasses-free 3D TV for a watch brand BOTTOM Business Matching Session during the 2nd edition of the Forum Travailler Ensemble

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ADVERTORIAL

January 2013

Ascot Expats

Interview avec Ascot Expats, conseils indépendants en stratégie patrimoniale des expatriés Pourriez-vous nous expliquer ce qu'est votre profession ? Nous sommes conseils indépendants en stratégie patrimoniale des expatriés pour notre maison mère Ascot Consulting, société de Conseil en Gestion de Patrimoine Indépendante d’où le nom de notre société « Ascot Expats ». N’oublions pas le qualificatif « indépendant » car cet aspect de notre métier est très important, mais nous y reviendrons plus tard. Le Conseiller en Gestion de Patrimoine Indépendant (CGPI) est un professionnel du patrimoine. Son métier, qui relève de plusieurs réglementations, consiste à conseiller ses clients sur la constitution ou l'organisation de leur patrimoine. De quel type de patrimoine ? De tout type de patrimoine, qu'il soit immobilier, financier, etc. Ceci est, vous vous en doutez, déjà assez complexe pour un résident français mais lorsqu'il s'agit d'un expatrié cela s'avère parfois très, très compliqué. Ce n’est pas seulement la distance mais aussi des cas particuliers auxquels les expatriés peuvent être confrontés, tant en matière de fiscalité que de droit civil, du fait même qu'ils sont expatriés. Vous vous intéressez également à ces sujets ? Bien sûr ! Et c’est la base même de notre métier. Nous consacrons aujourd'hui une part importante de notre temps sur ces thèmes que sont le droit familial, le droit civil et le droit fiscal. Ces sujets ne sont-ils pas régis par les conventions passées entre les pays ? Certains points le sont mais ils sont en minorité. Il existe notamment des conventions fiscales mais qui ne traitent bien souvent que des revenus, ce qui sous-entend qu'il peut y avoir problème sur les biens détenus à l'étranger par un expatrié. De même, les régimes matrimoniaux peuvent être totalement dénaturés. Et bien souvent les expatriés le découvrent fortuitement, voire trop tard. Plutôt que de nous ériger en spécialistes de la fiscalité locale, nous privilégions une approche globale, d'autant qu'un expatrié est souvent amené à vivre successivement dans différents pays. Autrement dit, nous nous attachons à organiser intelligemment le patrimoine de nos clients afin qu'ils n'aient pas de surprises au niveau fiscal. Vous nous parlez de fiscalité et de droit mais qu'en est-il des placements ? Vous voulez dire des conseils de placements, d'investissement ! Reprenons le schéma. Quand nous rencontrons nos clients nous faisons la collecte de l'ensemble des éléments qui les concernent : revenus, statut social, régime matrimonial, patrimoine en constitution, héritage perçus ou à percevoir, donations, etc. Ces éléments nous permettent de réaliser un bilan patrimonial détaillé à partir duquel nous

établissons nos préconisations en adéquation avec les souhaits et objectifs de nos clients. Ces conseils et préconisations couvrent l'ensemble de la situation patrimoniale du client, aussi bien sur les aspects financiers (organisation ou réorganisation du patrimoine, constitution de revenus...) que fiscaux et civils (adaptation du régime matrimonial, protection de la famille...), sans oublier la protection sociale, la prévoyance et la retraite, trop souvent négligées. Notre client peut réaliser ses investissements avec notre cabinet ou l'interlocuteur de son choix. Au début de notre entretien nous avons souligné le mot « indépendant ». Ceci, comme je le disais plutôt, est un point essentiel car nous n'avons aucun lien, ni capitalistique, ni autre avec un fournisseur quel qu'il soit et nous tenons à cette indépendance. Nous y tenons car cette indépendance nous permet de donner le conseil adéquat et de chercher le support d'investissement qui convient à notre client parmi les fournisseurs présents sur le marché. En un mot l'indépendance nous permet d'être objectifs. Ceci est très intéressant mais comment pouvez-vous cumuler toutes les connaissances qui semblent nécessaires à l'accomplissement de votre métier ? Je ne suis pas seul ! Les études, qui sont parfois complexes sont confiées au service Ingénierie Patrimoniale de notre maison mère à Paris. Ce service nous accompagne dans le suivi des dossiers de nos clients et exerce une veille juridique permanente nous permettant d'être toujours en accord avec les textes de lois. Par ailleurs, notre équipe sélectionne les opportunités d’investissement et de placement les mieux adaptés à notre client expatrié. Et pourquoi vous êtes-vous installés à Singapour ? Notre maison mère est à Paris. Mon épouse et moi, ayant exercé notre profession à Dubaï, connaissons bien les problèmes soulevés par l'expatriation. Les expatriés sont très nombreux à Singapour. Nous les informons sur tous les aspects de leur situation civile et fiscale, de leurs droits et devoirs en tant qu’expatrié pour ensuite les conseiller dans leur réflexion et leurs choix. Aujourd’hui n’est jamais trop tôt pour préparer demain !

Loïc SEGUIN ASCOT EXPATS www.ascot-expats.sg

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Train To Retain

n i a r T To

n i a t Re

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Keeping in STEP with Changing Workplace Needs By the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) enhances the competitiveness of our workforce by encouraging workers to learn for life and advance with skills. In today's economy, most jobs require not just knowledge, but also skills. WDA collaborates with employers, industry associations, the Union and training organisations, to develop and strengthen the Continuing Education and Training system that is skills-based, open and accessible, as a mainstream pathway for all workers – young and older, from rank and file to professionals and executives – to upgrade and advance in their careers and lives. THE NEED FOR CONSTANT SKILLS UPGRADING Singapore’s workplace needs have been evolving rapidly ever since globalisation allowed capital, jobs and talent to move freely across national boundaries. Recently, the speed of the transformation has increased due to developments such as the sovereign debt overhang in the United States, the debt crisis in Europe and a possible economic hard-landing in China. In these uncertain times, Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) need to constantly upgrade their skills to acquire knowledge and expertise for staying relevant amid the fast-changing business landscape.

SKILLS TRAINING FOR EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME (STEP) In March 2011, WDA and Ministry of Manpower launched a major skills upgrading push for PMEs, known as the Skills Training for Excellence Programme (STEP). STEP is an umbrella initiative designed for PMEs across all industries and job functions – from entry-level managers to senior-level executives – to boost their skills, knowledge and expertise by: - Deepening their industry- and occupation-specific expertise. - Broadening their knowledge of various aspects of business operations. - Refreshing their skill sets based on the latest industry trends and developments. - Developing a pool of local talent to assume industry leadership positions. PMEs, as well as their employers, can

leverage on STEP to undertake skills upgrading via four main thrusts: - Courses leading to full Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) credentials. - Modular WSQ courses. - Industry scholarships. - Masterclasses and seminars. STEP covers a wide range of knowledgeand skills-based training for PMEs to attain WSQ credentials at the certificate or diploma level. Examples of such courses include: - WSQ Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research. - WSQ Graduate Certificate in Workplace Safety and Health. - WSQ Specialist Diploma in Human Capital Management. - WSQ Diploma in Retail Management. - WSQ Diploma in Tourism. STEP masterclasses and seminars are typically 1- or 2-day events for PMEs to receive advice and insights from regional or global thought leaders in various knowledge domains. These sessions are particularly useful for PMEs who enjoy attending

dialogues or talks on industry-specific topics such as business management, service excellence or workplace productivity.

LEVERAGING ON STEP TO STAY RELEVANT WDA provides various forms of funding assistance for companies who send their local workers for STEP programmes. Employers and PMEs may visit www.wda.gov.sg for information on available programmes, funding criteria and more. Given the evolving business and employment landscape, it is imperative for employers to ensure that their workers stay relevant to their workplace needs. STEP is an ideal channel for companies to develop the capabilities of their PME employees, as well as a means for PMEs to upgrade their skills for future career progression. F

BOTTOM PMEs should leverage on Continuing Education and Training to constantly upgrade their skills and stay relevant amid a fast-changing business landscape.

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The Major Learning Trends and Indicators for 2013 & Beyond within the Asia Paciﬁc Region By Jeremy Blain, Managing Director, Cegos Asia Pacific Pte Ltd Cegos, a world leader in Training and Development and their partners across the region, conducted this research on-line and by phone across Q3 2012 to inform 2013 strategies and tactics. The research identifies the major trends facing the Asia Pacific Learning & Development (L&D) sector today. Jeremy Blain, Managing Director, Cegos Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, shares with us the main results of this study.

A STRONG COMMITMENT TO TRAINING IN ASIA PACIFIC Asian training is in a healthy place with 87% of learners having received training over the past 12 months. This is substantially higher than comparable European figures from both 2010 and 2011 where, according to Cegos, 25% and 21% of employees respectively had not received any form of training. Acquisition of new skills is the key motivation among learners towards learning today. The uptake and use of new mobile technologies and tools to enable learning and development is led by Asia Pacific, being well ahead of Europe within our survey comparisons.

CHALLENGING KEY MESSAGES TO CERTAIN ECONOMIES AND SOME LEARNING PROFESSIONALS Asia Pacific powerhouses such as Hong Kong and Singapore appeared to be losing ground and leadership in terms of learning and development initiatives, provision and – in the case of Singapore – the approach of adoption and integration of new learning technologies and tools. For both Singapore and Hong Kong, when compared to India, Indonesia, China and Malaysia, there is a need for new initiative in terms of learning and development provision to maintain competitiveness in what is a highly-transient talent community.

“

Online learning is the second most popular learning tool used by 58% of learners in Asia.

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Talent shift will be an increasing trend across Asia Pacific hubs and economies, with the best talent being rewarded through development and growth by investing in them.

A VOCAL LEARNER POPULATION READY TO SPEAK OUT, AND WHOSE NEEDS ARE NOT ALWAYS BEING MET Half of learning is initiated by the employer. This means 50% of APAC employees are driving their own development – an indication of learners not getting what they need or want. On this point, by far the most vocal participants in our survey were the millennials. We uncovered an increased expectation of their employers for appropriate development, personal growth and 'life-long learning'. Some of these learners are even prepared to pay for some of the training and development themselves, especially in India. In addition, barely 3 in 10 Asian Pacific employees go to their HR and L&D departments for information on training preferring to go to their Line Manager as the number one source of training informa-

tion. A worrying trend, deflecting managers from their core role, and a further call to action for HR / L&D to take back control and involve learners in the future of training and development within their organisations. Overall, there is a lack of dialogue in some organisations between professionals and the learning community itself. Some training provided may also be considered irrelevant, out-of-date, or simply not required. This is particularly true in our survey of participants from India and, surprisingly, Singapore.

TECHNOLOGY-LED LEARNING IS MORE WIDESPREAD, BUT TRADITIONAL METHODS LEAD THE WAY Technology-led learning in APAC is “leapfrogging” more traditional distance learning methods, and is enabled by a strong engagement in social media and one of the highest usages of mobile Smartphones, Tablets and Mini-Tablets in the world. For example, almost 25% of the Indian learning population surveyed use these technologies to learn – the highest uptake in APAC. The modes of learning leading the way in-

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clude e-learning, mobile learning, dedicated education sites, the growth of ‘open source’ learning provision and informal through social media for example.

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PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES TRAINED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

Countries like Australia, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and India are all embracing e-learning and mobile learning, but surprisingly, Singapore and China, represent limited implementation of e-learning and mobile learning. An increasingly social, mobile and development-hungry new generation is leveraging technology in a way previous generations did not. A shift from exclusively social usage to business applications and learning is evidenced in this survey.

A BROAD RANGE OF SKILLS’ AREAS, WITH MORE FOCUS THAN EUROPE ON BUILDING BUSINESS SKILLS AND MANAGEMENT KNOW-HOW Employees in Asia are training across a broad range of disciplines. Technical skills are the most trained area (15% of learners). China is the most focused on the development of business skills (18%) and management skills (17%) when compared to any other country across Asia Pacific, and indeed Europe. It is this shift toward professional skills, as more and more Chinese companies compete internationally, that indicates a potential ‘sea-change’ in training provision in China.

FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING STILL IMPORTANT AS PART OF THE TRAINING MIX – ONLINE & BLENDED LEARNING CONTINUES TO INCREASE IN POPULARITY Classroom/face-to-face learning will still be the most popular delivery method. 8 out of 10 Asia Pacific learners benefit from it. This focus on face-to-face learning is also reflected in the growth in coaching/one-toone mentoring. A strong parallel with the focus on personal relationships and social connections is at the very core of many Asia Pacific societies. It is, therefore, interesting that online learning is the second most popular learning tool used by 58% of learners in Asia –

a number that is significantly higher than in Europe and indicates that the new generation of learners in Asia Pacific has radically differing ways. Again, surprising data from core nations: individual learners in Singapore and China have less variety in the training methods used with only 17% of learners in Singapore and 7% in China receiving blended learning. Face-to-face is the predominant form of learning. In the case of Singapore, there is immense interest and seeming commitment towards blended and e-learning, but this is not necessarily match in execution – not on account of the learners but largely due to the learning professionals community.

CONCLUSIONS There are many positive indicators for the state of learning and development across Asia Pacific, coupled with some very challenging messages for how learning is executed. There is a very motivated learner community, learning provision is growing in most countries, and there is a huge shift towards business and management-related learning and development. This is especially evident in China. There is evidence of a strong learner-driven development and growth culture, led

by the Millennial generation, and more so for the iGeneration in less than 8 years. Technology-enabled learning is on the rise, driven largely by the learner community itself – an indication of future trends, current needs and the existing gaps. Technology-enabled learning is not replacing traditional training methods. In fact the human touch is as important as ever. It merely enhances the learning solutions that are available to an increasingly development-hungry new learner generation: more outlets, methods and tools to learn with. However, there is a growing gap between learning professionals and this new empowered learner community, the danger being an externalisation of learning, rather than a strongly collaborative, internally driven learning culture within organisations. Some reasons for this may be cultural, generational, lack of skills, apathy, lack of budget, economic immobilisation, the pace of change, globalisation and more. F

NOTE This research is based on a survey sample of 2,639 respondents from 1,350 organisations across 9 Asian Pacific countries, as well as comparing with two recent pan-European surveys conducted by Cegos in 2011 and 2012. 54% of the survey set were Generation Y/Millennials (34 years of age or younger).

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25 Ways To Retain Your Most Valued Talent By Ian Grundy, Head, Marketing & Communications, Adecco Asia The Adecco Group is the world's leading provider of HR solutions. With close to 33,000 FTE employees and over 5,500 branches, in over 60 countries and territories around the world, the company offers a wide variety of services, connecting close to 700,000 associates with over 100,000 clients every day. Adecco provides here some thoughts and ideas about how to keep your best talent engaged, productive and happy.

Talent retention is vital in today’s fast-paced workplace. Simply put, every organisation should do everything in its means to keep the talent that it values and that can help drive the company forward. However, in reality this is not always the case. Companies often try to retain talent only when it is too late following a resignation or a period of employee disgruntlement or unhappiness. Continued layoffs, lack of career growth and minimal pay increases are all major reasons that employees consider moving to what they consider ‘greener pastures’. To any company the cost of employee turnover can be considerable. Estimates suggest that losing a middle manager costs an organisation up to 100 percent of an employees’ salary. The loss

of a senior executive is even more costly. The logic for talent retention is unequivocal. In 2012 we continued to see a relatively strong job market in Singapore – a job market where candidates and employees have options open to them that may not have been available over the past few years. The most successful companies are going to be the companies that keep the best talent. Being the best company doesn’t mean being the biggest or being a market leader – it means being an organisation that values its human resources and that demonstrates strong leadership in the area of talent retention. Adecco offer 25 ways to retain to retain your most valued talent. How many is your company practicing?

Show genuine appreciation. Managers should be genuinely interested in their team members and the people that they support.

Make work interesting. Help people see that what they do makes a difference to somebody else and is worthwhile. Take time to demonstrate this.

Develop employees’ skills. Look for ways to move employees into more challenging roles and to keep them fulfilled. Allow them to grow their skills and competencies.

Identify multi-skilled employees. Recognise that some employees can work across a number of different areas to the extent that new internal roles could be found for them.

Ensure ‘best-in-class hiring’. Hiring should be done by experienced and professional recruiters who are looking to hire people that will fit in well. Poor hiring means poor staff turnover rates.

Support career planning. Help employees to see where their career can go with the company. What does

LEFT Ian Grundy, Head, Marketing & Communications, Adecco Asia

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Train To Retain

their career map look like and what support do they need to do to be successful?

Ask ‘to-the-point’ questions. Always ask people why they stay at the company and what they would need to stay in the long-term. Use this information wisely.

Hold regular review meetings. One-on-one meetings should be held regularly between manager/leaders and direct reports. These meetings should give employees the option to talk about issues and challenges.

Support employees with further education and training. Most people enjoy continued education and life

ways ensure that people treat others in the same way that they would like to be treated themselves. Respect at all times is essential.

long learning. Support employees by identifying training or further education.

18. Understand Generation Y! Generation Y have different

10. Make retention everyone’s responsibility. Every-

needs and requirements to other generations in the workplace. Understand Gen Y well and keep them engaged.

one in the company should appreciate the importance of retaining top talent. How are managers supporting employees and solving challenges where necessary.

11. Manage the meaning of change. Support people during times of uncertainty - including personal and organisational change. Be there and be open. Check in often with employees.

12. Consider flexible work options. In today’s mobile workplace, employees can work remotely – working hours that may better suit their personal life – whilst still getting the job done. Is this something that your company practices?

19. Reward

employees for high achievement.

Bonuses and commissions clearly help – but simple gestures and recognitions also go a long way.

20. Adopt

mature workers programmes. Mature workers are often the most experienced employees within an organisation. Ensure that their needs are considered and support how they integrate with younger workers.

21. Encourage Entrepreneurialism. Employees must be supported in coming forward with creative ideas and actions. There must be an environment where failure is not punished.

13. Pay market rates. Pay salaries that are at least com- 22. Walk your talk. Are you and other managers being the mensurate with the market. For positions where there is a shortage of talent, you may need to pay over market rates to attract the best people.

14. Promote wellness in the workplace. Ensure that employee wellness is considered at all times. Healthy canteen options and healthy office environments make for happier and more productive employees.

leaders that you expect others to be? If not, how can you improve?

23. Identify detached employees. These are the employees that are unhappy nearly all of the time – spreading gloom and adversely affecting the performance of others. You need to motivate these individuals and get them thinking positively.

15. Identify stress and potential ‘burn-out’ situa- 24. Schedule structured exit interviews. Learn from tions. Help managers spot early signs of high stress levels in employees before it’s too late. Close contact with employees at all times helps.

16. Keep employees updated and informed. Do employees know what is happening in the company and do they understand the strategy? Do you have a good internal newsletter and are regular updates and overviews sent out?

17. Always treat people with respect. Although the workplace can sometimes be a stressful environment, al-

those that are leaving and prevent others from doing so. Are there recurring themes as to why people are leaving?

25. Develop a culture of saying ‘thank you’. It works and it’s easy to do!

“Talent is key to the success of every organisation – regardless of size or sector. Those companies that both value and respect their talent, will likely be the organisations that are continually able to attract the very best people in the workplace.” F

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LVMH Invests in Human Resources & Opens Training Hub in Singapore A world leader in luxury, LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton possesses a unique portfolio of over 60 prestigious brands. Thanks to its brand development strategy, and the expansion of its international retail network (more than 3,000 stores worldwide), LVMH has had a strong growth dynamic since its creation in 1987. LVMH announced in October 2012 the opening of its Asia Pacific Talent Development Centre in Singapore. This newly created facility located at Ngee Ann City on Orchard Road focuses on the development of Asian talents, systematically building research capabilities on luxury brand management with an Asia focus as well as strengthening Group's HR capabilities in Southeast Asia. Mrs Chantal Gaemperle, LVMH Group EVP Human Resources and Synergies commented: "This is another important step in further strengthening our already strong presence and growth in Asia Pacific where LVMH has already more than 23,000 people. Development of our local talents and building new HR capabilities for key markets remain a priority for this highly vibrant and diverse Region.” Mr Alvin Tan, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board, said, “LVMH is the world leader in luxury and I am delighted that Singapore will play a more significant role in grooming

“

Development of our local talents and building new HR capabilities for key markets remain a priority.

LVMH’s next generation of Asian leaders. Singapore is a strategic location for companies to develop and deploy future leaders with pan-Asian perspectives, and LVMH’s decision reinforces our position as a talent hub. With the rapid growth of the

”

luxury goods sectors in Asia, we are excited that LVMH will also be undertaking research on luxury brand management to better understand the diverse consumer behaviours in Asia through working with Singapore-based institutions.” F

SOME KEY FACTS ABOUT THE TALENT DEVELOPMENT CENTRE: - The LVMH Asia Pacific Talent Development Centre is the first such facility outside of Europe which is a testimony to the growth and importance of the Asia Pacific Region and Singapore. - Singapore was chosen for a number of reasons, not least its excellent infrastructure, presence of top class educational institutions, efficient flight connections & service and as a strategic location for Southeast Asia. - The Centre aims at increasing employer brand desirability and at attracting new talents and contribute to the wider growth of the luxury sector in Asia. - The Centre also aims at establishing LVMH Group research capabilities in luxury brand management with a track specific to Asia. Given this extra objective, Singapore was chosen as the Centre can capitalise on the presence of leading business schools like INSEAD, ESSEC, National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University (SMU).

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Bo Le: a Cultural Change to Attract, Develop and Retain the Best Talents in Asia By Danone In the Chinese mythology, Bo Le refers to the horse master Sun Yang. The legend has it that he was able to spot the best horses and would groom them to run thousands of miles a day. It is not surprising that the Danone teams chose “Bo Le” to name a deep change of mindset that has been on-going in the organisation for 3 years. This cultural change has put the managers at the heart of people’s development in Asia. Also, it has resulted in the acceleration of the development of rich and diverse career paths, thanks to the possibility to grow and get higher exposure through cross function, cross country or cross business units moves. Leadership development programmes have never been so important in the region, which lead Danone to develop the New Gen programme with a famous Asian Business School.

BO LE, A PROGRAMME DESIGNED IN ASIA FOR ASIA Back in 2009, the business vice presidents of Danone Asia underlined a preoccupying lack of human resources that was identified as the key bottleneck to sustain Danone’s extremely high growth in the region. The HR team was challenged to rapidly find a creative solution to tackle this issue. Instead of going for a traditional top-down process, it was decided to create a cobuilding dynamic.Things would only change if all the stakeholders (HR community, business leaders, and key managers) were involved right from the start in designing a shared vision and ambition. A group of 30 of them went through a deep process involving the interviewing of 100 people internally and externally to get specific inspiration and build on factual insights. Meryem Le Saget, specialist in vision design, helped Danone through the process, which involved Danoners from all levels, countries and functions. Danone also partnered with David Sibbet, who helped to engage all the key stakeholders thanks to his visual meetings method. Through this participative process, a common ambition was defined: build a powerhouse of Asian leaders to grow Danone in Asia. Related action plans have been then

of future high potentials amidst them (as defined in “LeAPs” Leaders of Asia Pacific) has doubled over the same period of time.

CREATING A POOL OF ASIAN LEADERS, FROM ATTRACTION AND DEVELOPMENT TO RETENTION

DEVELOPMENT. Indeed, Danoners get opportunities to grow their leadership competencies thanks to exposure to different functions, countries and business units: “Will I consider another cross country move? Of course, yes. These are opportunities of a lifetime to grow both as an individual and as a professional” (We Jin, who moved from Singapore to Indonesia).

To make this ambition real, local initiatives were developed to make a step change on three key streams: the attraction, the development and the retention of the best talents. The collaborative way of building Bo Le created a favourable context for the emergence of local initiatives, organised in comprehensive country roadmaps: “Bo Le ensures that talent management and people are at the centre of the company’s heart. This is not only an ideal, but made of actionable initiatives that cover the youngest talents up to the most senior ones” (Ciptadi, Indonesia). ATTRACTION. It was decided to focus on the launch of Management Trainee programmes to attract fresh graduates to the company thanks to university road shows. The MTs get appropriate support in the process: “When I was a management trainee, my mentor and my coach helped me a lot. They made me feel stronger” (Diana, China). In terms of the overall pipeline, the number of managers has been increased by 50% over the last two years, and more importantly, the number

Mobility issues are taken into consideration and short term assignments developed to ensure people who have maybe more mobility constraints in Asia can still benefit from such opportunities. 70 of these moves were made in 2012. Through these, Danoners face many challenges: “The move meant that I was doing more or less two things at the same time. It was quite challenging for me as the working process and scopes were different, but at the same time, the challenge meant growth for me, as I was learning a lot and connecting with many more Danoners” (Jessy, from China to Singapore). Danoners are highly empowered through the process: “Being transferred from regional office to a business unit has many advantages: you own the projects and you

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are able to move things forward; you manage a project from idea generation to its implementation; you also work a lot cross functionally” (Pascale, who moved from China to Japan). Developing strong leadership skills is the key component of Bo Le, especially through the New Gen created with CEIBS and the CODI-Acceleration Track programs: “The programme helps you to know yourself better, to know the business and the society around it. It is a great learning and development experience and I think it is just the start of the journey for all the participants” (Sherry, on the New Gen programme). RETENTION. Coaching and mentoring programmes were developed to support the leadership development and illustrate how much Danone relies on its team’s leaders to develop and retain its people. As a vice president put it, “Bo Le is not only about each individual. It is about the responsibility of each Danoner to prepare the next generation of leaders too.” The engagement of the managers can

Train To Retain

already be seen: In 2009, only 23% of managers and directors created a Development Action for their team members as part of the annual HR process. By 2011 it was almost all of them. In addition, all the training programmes are facilitated, cofacilitated or at least sponsored by internal leaders.

BO LE, DEEPENING OUR WAY IN 2013 At the end of 2011, an evaluation was made and revealed that Bo Le has so far been successful. Asian employees realised that there was no more glassceiling too. But the HR community and the managers know there is still a long way to go: the quality of the programmes must be deepened, mentors and coaches need deep and constant training, leadership development programmes need to be developed for younger managers, and the HR community needs to foster the exchange of best practices between the different business units and countries. The evaluation also underlined the need to communicate and engage more around Bo Le. For this, a new communication, more

engaging and participative, has been outlined. Bo Le Ambassadors have been nominated and an online platform “ Bo Le Alive” was created for Danoners to get information on Bo Le, inspire and exchange with each other on the theme of personal and career development, as part of the internal Danone Social Network. Indeed, the best communication should be the one coming directly from the people involved and getting the benefit from the programme. Those who are willing to share about their development experience do so, and have the opportunity to inspire others and to start a conversation on it. Finally, Bo Le is going from regional to global in Danone. The leadership programme New Gen, created in Asia, has been extremely successful. It was decided to roll it out from Asia to the other regions of the world, thanks to the universities partners of CEIBS. The first pilot in Europe was organised in December 2012. F BOTTOM Employer branding event organised in Kuala Lumpur, introducing the new communication tools “Design your career at Danone in Asia Pacific” to attract young talents.

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January 2013

Train To Retain

Training for SMEs in Singapore: the Silent Weapon By Fabien Mailhe, Managing Director, and Alex Lanjri, L&D Manager, Timeo-Performance Timeo-Performance has been helping cross-industry companies operating in Asia for 5 over years. We help our clients develop their business through our expertise in Recruitment/Head Hunting, Training, Learning & Development and HR Management. When it comes to operating a business in Singapore, four people-specific realities are particularly significant for MNCs and SMEs alike: - Singapore enjoys almost complete employment so the talent pool is by its nature, extremely limited. - Certain specific skill sets are very rare and are highly in-demand. - Asia is diverse and multicultural and nowhere more than Singapore. Dealing with this complexity is essential to team equilibrium and the team dynamic. - Markets become regional very quickly and teams are spread across many different APAC countries and beyond. How does this effect training for SME’s? - Everyone is fighting for talented and skilled people in the workplace. - Everyone is fighting to get the people dynamic right in a culturally complex environment where the management is often quite remote. - Everyone has great ambition but is faced with limited resources and constraints.

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Training is an increasingly crucial weapon to allow SMEs to compete with larger organisations in recruiting employees with high potential.

In this environment, SMEs do not have it easy when building an effective workforce and developing the skills that are necessary for the business, especially with such fierce competition. In a “candidate driven market” SMEs and companies with limited brand presence in the region are perceived as less attractive, so it is often a huge challenge to attract suitable talent. The shallow talent pool sometimes forces managers to hire people who do not have the adequate set of competencies to carry out a role effectively. When we hire for our clients, candidates would often show reluctance to join SMEs due to the perception of limited career op-

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portunities in the middle term, especially when it is the hiring managers’ own job role that is the next logical career step for them! The mix of cultures, expertise and day-today business realities across a variety of APAC countries makes it extremely difficult to build a highly effective people culture and provide consistent service to clients. Internal teams are frequently unbalanced and so is the company culture, business practices and the messages to customers/clients can be incoherent. In the SME business context, external training is often an under-estimated and underused weapon to address many of these challenges. It is sometimes for good reason that training programmes have been perceived as expensive and having minimal positive impact on business results as many providers in Singapore miss the fundamental issues.

WHAT IS THE EFFECT FOR SMES WHO USE TRAINING THAT PRODUCES TANGIBLE RESULTS AND EFFECTIVE CHANGES? Training becomes a crucial weapon to allow SMEs to compete with larger organisations in recruiting future employees with high potential. Relevant, bespoke and high quality training for employees allows a broader search and a wider scope during the recruitment search. So when attempt-

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January 2013

ing to fill a job vacancy with limited talent choice available, training allows SMEs to select candidates who are not yet the finished article but have excellent behavioural traits and the potential to grow competence quickly. An SME that can demonstrate a commitment to developing its people through effective training programmes will be better positioned to counterbalance the limited career opportunities available in the eyes of potential candidates. Employee surveys consistently tell us that self development and personal progression is at the heart of employee satisfaction, loyalty and engagement in Asia as well. So where SMEs struggle to retain top performers, enabling staff to develop expertise and knowledge with high quality, targeted and relevant training is a key motivational factor to stay and grow. SMEs often have employees who carry out multi-task roles (HR and Accounting or Sales and Admin) so training helps to increase competency in areas of nonspecialisation. This lack of competency in one area is often the cause for resignation due to dissatisfaction, lack of achievement, disillusionment, stress and long working hours. In France, professional training can be seen as “a party time for employees, it is expensive and great on the day but is forgotten soon after”. We recommend to our European and non-Asian clients to shift their paradigm and pre-conceptions about the value of training. The challenges for the business context in Asia need a different approach to what works in the West. We always encourage SMEs to consider group training as an opportunity for knowledge sharing and exploration of company issues. It allows employees to create and build a common culture together and ensures a shared understanding of the company way of working. Regional managerial training is a perfect environment to combine learning new managerial skills and building company values with company specific scenarios that are aligned to business processes. The training can contribute to effective team building through combining operational workshops and sharing managerial information that goes

Train To Retain

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Pioneering techniques provide the best results in the Asian context.

far beyond creating a painting together on Sentosa Island or zip-lining between trees in the Singapore jungle.

COMBINING TECHNIQUES BRING HOPE TO SMES SMEs often have to face many reality checks when implementing training for staff. 1. The financial costs which can include the trainer, training materials, venue, travel, catering and sometimes accomodation. 2. The time taken away from the job can have a significant impact on an SME. 3. The limited number of employees with similar needs to justify a dedicated training session. 4. Logistical issues of providing a venue or having professional training facilities available. 5. Less flexibility to take staff out of an operational role for the training period then MNCs. 6. The effort and time to select the adequate training provider. There are however solutions available which reduce the impact of these pressures. 1. Training providers will propose training sessions in their training centre or venue where only one of your staff can join others from other companies (lowering costs). 2. There is great support and tax breaks in Singapore for companies who choose external training for their staff

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with a 60% saving on the total cost. 3. The latest technical advancements enable remote learning (no need to travel) which can produce significant results when carried out in the right context. This approach allows a flexible, individual and dedicated learning experience. Pioneering learning & development techniques skilfully mix class-room based training with individual coaching to provide great business results for our clients. This innovative approach addresses the collective areas of development as well as the individual needs for reinforcement. Coaching can be effective when carried out remotely and in the preferred learning style of the individual. Taking into account the constraints for SMEs, these pioneering techniques provide the best results in the Asian context. The most expensive cost to most businesses, regardless of size, is the employees. However, maintenance of employees is often less frequent and less planned for than maintenance of infrastructure and IT systems, even air conditioning and coffee machines get a more regular service! The way to keep employes motivated, happy, productive, dedicated and loyal is to instill a culture of learning and sharing through new knowledge, skills and behaviours over the long term. F

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January 2013

Train To Retain

The Keys to Implement a Training and Development Programme Interview with Antoine Chazelle, VP Sales, APAC, Africa MEA, Manitou Manitou is a world leader in material handling and compact equipment for the agriculture, industrial, mining and construction industry. Through this case study, Antoine Chazelle from Manitou shares with us his experience in implementing a training programme for his managers from the region. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LOOK FOR TRAINING PROVIDERS IN THE FIRST PLACE? Put simply, our activities are growing quickly in Asia-Pacific and I wanted to give my managers the support and the means to be successful in their role. When I took over at Manitou APAM I realised there was a lack of relevant training for our current business environment. More than just a training programme, I was looking for a ‘development’ programme for my managers. WHAT WERE YOUR CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS? Even though we have an international scope, we are facing similar issues with SMEs in the region. Until recently, we did not have a learning and development department dedicated to our multicultural team and specific needs in Asia. One of my priorities was to create a common bond around our new company core values and work towards instilling these values across the management. It was then important for me that the trainer understood and followed the company’s guidelines. I was also looking for a team building atmosphere where we could share knowledge and ideas. I wanted a practical and hands-on training with new concepts, tools and models whilst addressing the individual needs for managers. The other aspect to be taken into consideration was the multicultural dimension of the group as our team is composed of French, Singaporean, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese! WHAT WAS YOUR SELECTION PROCESS? I interviewed several training providers, local private training companies and gov-

ernment providers for them, to explain their vision. I included my management team in the decision making process in order to make an informed and collective decision. Timeo-Performance’s team understood our expectations and was able to design a training course adapted to our needs. They proposed to associate management techniques, consulting approach and individual coaching for longer lasting results. This new approach was ideal for longterm results. HOW DID THE TRAINING GO? It was intense and there was a good working atmosphere. I was surprised to receive 300 survey questions before the training had even begun! This effort had to be made for the consultant to make a greater and real impact and in order to design a tailor-made programme. The results of this questionnaire confirmed the initial diagnosis I had made. The learning we got from the 3-day training was followed and consistently reinforced through the implementaion of an on-going programme of one-to-one coaching sessions. For over 4 months, it helped us build on key learning from the training and enabled lots of exchanges on management or operational topics.

WHAT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST? I was impressed by how the team bonded and worked openly through the activities and we had an enjoyable time together. The training also facilitated discussions on some very operational topics that we want to improve. Some moments looked closer to a workshop approach. The real-life working experiences shared by the trainer and the consultant were helpful and made it easier for my managers to put these learning into a real context. I was concerned on how the team would react to the individual coaching sessions as it is still quite new in Asia, but it has been well accepted and helped to develop coaching skills within the team. I was happily surprised to see everyone interested in practising and keen to know more to address their own areas of progress with openness and transparency regardless of their professional and cultural background. We know that implementing effective changes requires long-term efforts. This part is now our responsibility! F TOP Manitou’s managers during the training with Timeo-Performance.

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COVER STORY

January 2013

Train To Retain

A Centre of Excellence for Learning and Development By Caroline Buhagiar, AXA Asia Regional L&D Director and Campus Head, Singapore AXA started operating in Asia in 1986 with the acquisition of the Hong Kong business. Since then, AXA has extended its footprints in the Asian region and currently comprises operations in 8 locations, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In 2011, the Life and General Insurance (GI) businesses have been combined under one management with the objective to propose a complete and consistent range of product to our customers all around Asia. GROWTH CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT PROPER DEVELOPMENT... AXA Asia established the Campus in 2009 to support its growth ambitions for the region. AXA is convinced that growth can only be established within a culture where we take care of developing our people and creating a great place to work at the same time.

NURTURING OUR LEADERS TODAY TO BE READY TOMORROW… The Campus’ strategy is to nurture the key talents of the region and support leadership development. It serves as an employee value proposition to promote development by designing and implementing curriculum to strengthen our technical expertise and also leadership skills. The University hosts on average 150 learning events per year for the region bringing together leaders from 10 Asian countries. We partner with best in

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The Campus’ strategy is to nurture the key talents of the region and support leadership development.

class business schools to ensure that our staff gains the latest knowhow and knowledge to outperform our goals. This year we wanted to focus on a few critical projects where we repositioned what and how we manage Learning and Development in the region. One of the immediate priorities we had was to increase more the visibility of the Campus in Asia while focusing on providing a cost effective model for programmes delivered on Campus. We have created a Learning and Development Committee with representatives from all AXA Asia who meets every month to drive the Learning strategy across Asia. This year we delivered 117 programmes both on Campus and also within some of our busi-

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nesses which has strengthened the relationship across countries and entities in Asia. Apart from the traditional learning “in class room”, several initiatives have been launched “on the field” to create opportunities for staff to gain a better understanding of the business by exchanging with the CEO and the Leadership team. This year we launched several e-learning programmes for our technical community to enhance the cascade of knowledge within the region in a timely manner. We have started the deployment of a Learning Management System which will enhance our efficiency and effectiveness. The tool will allow us to provide learning analytics to our top management to demonstrate the impact of our Learning Interventions. The University has gained a reputation for being a centre of excellence for people development within the Asia. Several CEOs from other multinational companies in Asia often visit the AXA University to understand its operating model and strategy within Asia. The recognition arrived this year from having received 2 Awards of Excellence and have been identified as a best in-classvenue to bring together Learning and Development professionals from all over the world to host the 2013 Global Learning Summit. We are very proud of our Campus and we are committed to make AXA a great place to work for! F LEFT The AXA Campus

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January 2013

Train To Retain

A Rapidly Growing Video Game Studio With High Ambitions Interview with Olivier de Rotalier, Managing Director, Ubisoft Singapore Ubisoft, the third largest independent publisher of video games worldwide, employs more than 6,900 team members worldwide, 80% of whom are dedicated to production. The Singapore studio opened its doors in July 2008 with a small team and lots of ambition. That team is now 250-strong, and is proof that in four short years of existence, the studio has lost no time in growing and developing its expertise. Managing Director, Olivier de Rotalier, tells us a bit more about the studio’s formula for success. HOW HAS 2012 BEEN FOR UBISOFT SINGAPORE? 2012 marks a major milestone in the scale of projects the studio has been working on. The highly praised naval battles sequences in Assassin’s Creed III, released earlier this year, were fully developed in Singapore. We are also working on Ghost Recon Online, an ambitious free-to-play title based on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon universe, which is now in open beta test. We have demonstrated our strong sense of innovation and ability to compete with the very best. THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IS FAIRLY NEW IN SINGAPORE. IS IT A CHALLENGE FOR YOU TO FIND THE RIGHT TALENT? One of the major reasons behind our decision to set up a studio in Singapore was the high quality education available in the region and, thereby a pool of highly-skilled talents. To groom talents specifically for the games industry that is still in its infancy locally, we went one step further and established a unique partnership with DigiPenInstitute of Technology Singapore, called the DigiPen®Ubisoft® Campus programme. This programme combines the expertise of DigiPen,

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In terms of recruitment, we try to be creative in reaching out to a diversity of potential talents.

one of the most famous video game schools in the USA that had just set up in Singapore, and that of Ubisoft, to give students the opportunity to learn game development with practical first-hand experience. In return, the studio can offer high-potential students the possibility to join their teams once they have finished their studies.

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In terms of recruitment, we try to be creative in reaching out to a diversity of potential talents, working with the local universities, government agencies such as EDB and Contact Singapore, since building and training a strong team has always been the studio’s main priority. Every new hire is carefully chosen, and the team of Ubisoft veterans will take the time to train new team members to ensure they have a solid foundation for their role. Close working relationships and the sharing of expertise and technology with other Ubisoft

studios across the globe is also a key factor to our success in getting the right talents. TELL US MORE ABOUT THE DIGIPEN®UBISOFT® CAMPUS PROGRAMME? It is a 10-month full-time programme, open to working professionals and students who already have a degree in computer science, or a diploma in arts or design. They can specialise in Game Programming, Game Art, or Game Design. The first half of the training is committed to theoretical knowledge; the other half is an assignment, where students get to develop a fullyplayable game prototype under the guidance of advisors from Ubisoft. DigiPen offers its proven academic excellence and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency subsidises some of the tuition fees for eligible students. The programme has been a real success for us – 50% of students who graduated over the past 4 years were hired by Ubisoft (a total of 34 people!). HOW DOES THE FUTURE LOOK FOR UBISOFT SINGAPORE? I am very optimistic. With two hit games under our belt in 2012 alone, Ubisoft Singapore has made its mark in the industry. Our success is a direct reflection of our ambition, the team’s hard work and the support from the Singapore government that has enabled the studio to evolve with such impressive speed. If the past four years are anything to go by, the future looks very promising! F LEFT Ubisoft Singapore’s Team

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January 2013

Train To Retain

Partnering with Local Universities By Philippe Bonnet, Vice President, Global Head Learning & Education, Essilor International Essilor is an international group with 48,700 employees in 58 countries. Its success remains closely linked to the way in which Essilor works to meet needs around the world. Essilor’s international presence is more than a strategy; it reflects a philosophy – knowing how to fit in with local customs and characteristics. Philippe Bonnet shares with us how Essilor is successfully partnering with Nanyang Business School in Singapore to develop their executive teams’ management and leadership skills. We have partnered with executive education organisations across the world for two years in order to develop our management and executive teams and we currently manage more than 13 initiatives covering on-boarding, management and leadership development. For the Asia Pacific module of our General Management Programme (GMP), we have successfully built a positive and fruitful partnership with the executive education team of Nanyang Business School, giving to the place of Singapore a critical role in our Learning & Development initiatives. Our corporate strategy is the starting point and guiding force for everything we do. Our programmes are highly relevant, timely, and impactful because they focus on accelerating strategic progress. After having shared our needs, it was critical for us that the selected partner would be able to get a deep understanding of our organisation’s DNA, our business objectives and our strategic challenges. As in any performing organisation, our leaders know our business better than anyone else, it is the reason why, we

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By bringing our current business challenges into the programme, our executives gain meaningful stretch assignments and generate useful solutions when back to work.

always engage them to act as both resources and experts in tandem with Nanyang faculty. Once we had proposed our own curriculum design for the programme, it was critical for Nanyang to match it with unique learning styles. This represents the only way to ensure that our solution is properly customised to our needs and effective in developing our executives’ skills. By bringing our current business challenges into the programme, our executives gain meaningful stretch assignments and generate useful solutions when back to work. As knowledge is not enough, it is obvious that Nanyang has succeed in proposing transformational learning experiences that include guided practice and specific application of the knowledge to our lead-

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ers’ and company’s challenges. Beside the high level of satisfaction of our GMP participants, we are confident that the knowledge, tools, and frameworks our leaders gain can be put to immediate use back in our organisation to achieve the ultimate goal: significant business impact. To summarise on our positive partnership with Nanyang Executive Education and the selection of Singapore as a training place of choice, I will definitely mention: their capability to individualise our GMP programme with an emphasis on practical applications, their global rigour with Asian relevance, their experienced faculty with corporate focus, their worldwide ranking in Asian management thinking and research, a solid action-learning pedagogy and an executive education centre on campus. F

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January 2013

Train To Retain

New Learning Opportunities in the East By The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore The emergence of education centres of excellence usually follows major economic developments. Today is the time for Asia to develop new learning opportunities. Business is moving East, so is Education?

A GLOBAL EDUCATION HUB Singapore is quickly emerging as a primary education hub in Asia and attracts more and more foreign and local students.

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Singapore has positioned itself as a business and education hub .

of development. Indeed, years ago, many Singaporeans preferred to pursue their studies abroad. However, over the years, Singapore has gained wide recognition in terms of educational offer and has recently seen a dramatic increase in the international university ranking.

“As the largest and fast growing economic region, Asia Pacific is becoming the most vibrant education market for managerial and leadership development. Singapore, with its strategic location, has positioned itself as a business and education hub for Southeast Asia and the greater Asian region”, explained Natalie Ang, Associate Director for Executive Education at ESSEC Asia Pacific.

A DIVERSIFIED EDUCATION OFFER More and more foreign universities are opening campuses in Singapore as the City-State pursues its efforts in becoming a hub for higher education. In 2000, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business launched its Executive MBA programme in Singapore which was the first graduate business programme with a dedicated campus in Asia. French schools are no exception to this trend, and have also followed Singapore’s growth. More than 10 years ago, INSEAD became the first French business school to have two fully-fledged campuses with permanent faculty – one in Europe, the other in Asia. The Singaporean campus has since grown and is now moving to a third phase

Another example is ESSEC Business School which has set up its regional headquarters for Asia-Pacific in Singapore for over 7 years offering learning experience with Asian insights and perspectives and delivering programmes such as the Master of Science in Management, Advanced Masters, Executive Workshops and customised programmes, etc. ESSEC is also expanding with a new campus that will be operational in 2015.

EAST-WEST EDUCATION BRIDGE Some schools choose to partner up with local institutions. Indeed, Singapore universities and learning centres are today internationally recognised for their quality teaching and advancements in technology and research. In this perspective, HEC Paris School of Management has developed a strategic partnership with the leading university of Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. The HEC - NUS partnership started in 1998 and a new phase was launched in February 2009 with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding and the launch of the new NUS MBA and HEC Paris Double Degree MBA programme, open to students in Paris and in Singapore. Double Degree Students are already high-level professionals with an average 6 years of experience, a strong academic background, high test scores and showing great leadership potential. “From a recruiter‘s perspective, they represent a competitive advantage for a company willing to expand globally. With an academic knowledge and

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business exposure from two different regions, they get dual skills for doing business in Europe and Asia; understanding of global business; and double network”, explained Geneviève Barré Director, HEC Paris International Development, Asia-Pacific. The fact that over 200 HEC Paris Alumni are based in Singapore is a good indicator of this attraction for employers. Singapore also attracts regional French business schools interested in expanding their education offer and international exposure. Judith Bouvard, Dean and Director of Grenoble Graduate School of Business (GGSB) explained the reasons of this strategic choice: “We chose to open a branch of GGSB in Singapore for several reasons: first, Singapore is France’s first commercial partner in Southeast Asia and the third in the whole of Asia after China and Japan. In addition, there are many French companies located in Singapore and several of them, such as STMicroelectronics and Soitec, are also based in the Grenoble region. Finally, many European students are applying, looking for a European degree with an Asian experience”. GGSB has opted to work with a local provider, the Management Development Institute of Singapore, to benefit from their infrastructure and know-how. GGSB started with a Master in International Business in 2006 and are now currently offering two Master’s programmes in Singapore.

INCREASING DEMAND FOR EXECUTIVE EDUCATION IN ASIA The fact that INSEAD is expanding its Asia

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January 2013

campus to increase its Executive Education offering through the new Leadership Development Centre highlights the strong demand for this type of education within the region and its importance on the global stage. With a higher competition in business today, an increasing focus on innovation, companies come for help in implementing strategies to retain and maximise their talents, while still attracting top recruits. Assistant Dean, Executive Development Programmes, Mark Roberts, said “With increasing pressure on businesses in today’s market place, high potential executives within expanding companies are required to move through the management curve faster in order to become effective leaders. Many individuals come to INSEAD seeking to develop sophisticated leadership and cross-cultural people management skills as well as to enhance their ability to think strategically, to strengthen their business acumen and to improve their decision making and judgement.”

GROWING ASIAN TALENTS In addition to delivering executive education, schools are closely working with companies and public organisations on several critical human resources challenges faced in Asia: attracting and recruiting talents; developing and retaining

Train To Retain

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Companies come for help in implementing strategies to retain their talents.

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these talents; stimulating strategic thinking and embracing leadership ability for top executives.

tailored programmes to meet today’s specific challenges in Asia. These programmes target experienced professionals.

For example, the ESSEC Asian Talent Partnership has been developed together with a pool of multinational companies, to source, attract, retain and equip talents with relevant skills and knowledge to perform in multicultural and diverse work environments. As such, the pool of corporate partners has privileged access to the students. The Partnership Programme also allows major companies to develop relationships with students at an early stage. Moreover, through the ESSEC Asian Talent Partnership, partner companies are invited to participate in Master Class and Educational Fairs to promote the partnership as well as their employer brand.

In this perspective, EDHEC-Risk responded to the invitation of the Monetary Authority of Singapore to set-up a research centre in Singapore in order to promote innovation and high professional standards in the Asian investment industry.

“Going forward, we see talent development trends wrapped up in two words: diversity and leadership”, said Philippe Labrousse, Associate Director for Corporate Relations at ESSEC Asia Pacific.

SKILLS FOR TOMORROW Some French schools have also developed

“The global economic turmoil has led the industry to redefine itself and adopt stateof-the-art asset allocation and risk management techniques. There is an increasing demand across all risk functions - including credit, operations and market. Before the financial crisis, risk was seen as passive and less important, but financial institutions are now realising its significance. With the globalization of markets, the economy is so closely integrated that problems can spread; this makes risk roles even more important and interesting.” As such, the Singapore campus is the base for the part-time MSc in Risk & Investment Management*, the PhD in Finance, the MSc in Global Business as well as training seminars. Recently, Sorbonne Assas International Law School launched the LL.M. in International Business Law hosted at INSEAD. The promoters of Sorbonne-Assas International Law School Asia spent about two years to evaluate the real needs for European Law Programs in the Asia Region before implementing it.

“Sorbonne Assas International Law School aims to respond to the legal challenges of the 21st century. The key point is to enable future managers, lawyers or not, to face the legal challenges in our societies, which became both globalized and transformed by technological revolutions”, said Mr Stéphane Braconnier, Dean of Sorbonne-Assas International Law School – Singapore. F

NOTE * EDHEC Risk Institute-Asia, Registered with Singapore Council for Private Education, Registration No.201025256Z from 22-06-2011 to 21-06-2017.

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CSR BEST PRACTICES

January 2013

The FCCS Engages its Members on CSR

Engaging FCCS Members on CSR The FCCS Sustainability Committee invites the FCCS companies to share their best practices in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In this section, discover the best practices of our members through two case studies. Join us and help us build a better world!

IBIS SINGAPORE ON BENCOOLEN BACKGROUND As the world leading hotel operator, it is Accor’s duty and desire to act as a driving force in the field of sustainable development. Today, Accor is implementing a new sustainable development strategy: Planet 21. Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen is proud to be selected as the pilot hotel to launch this programme in Singapore. OBJECTIVE(S) It is structured into 21 concrete measures, each with ambitious quantified objectives that the entire Accor hotel chain must meet by 2015, in areas such as responsible eating, reducing water and energy consumption, and preventing illness. APPROACH The critical challenges we are facing are to communicate why the company is adopting the changes and how these changes can benefit everyone. We first brainstormed on ways that we could implement the Planet 21 initiatives in our daily operations and interactions with our customers. The measures must be

innovative and sustainable. After brainstorming, team members started to accept and contribute to the success of the Project. KEY SUCCESS FACTORS • Contribution to the Company’s Performance We only implemented the programme in Ibis Bencoolen on April 2012. These are just part of our on-going efforts to improve our operations to deliver excellent customer service under the Planet 21 initiatives. We will be working hard to strive for greater heights as part of the Accor team. • Environmental, social, and governance beneﬁts Social - uplift in morale of employees, customers feel more comfortable staying with ibis as we are social responsible company. Ibis will be portraying responsible corporate image for clients and employees. Easier to hire workers with good corporate image. Environmental - recycle more plastics and paper. Less paper used save trees. Less plastic used less damage to ozone layer thus reduce global warming effects.

SING’THEATRE BACKGROUND Sing’Theatre is a professional theatre company (non-profit) created in 2006 to build bridges and promote understanding between French and Singaporean cultures while promoting local talents. Sing’Theatre wants to contribute to Singapore’s nationwide efforts to “bring arts and culture to everyone, everywhere, every day”. Sing’Theatre has been granted with a status of Institution of Public Character (IPC), allowing its donors and patrons to enjoy a double tax exemption. OBJECTIVE(S) At Sing’Theatre we believe that Art is about values, beliefs, identity, expression and communication and as such should be a fundamental right of every individual. We want to bring performing arts to communities who have no or a limited access to arts, like disadvantaged children, abused women or patients in hospitals. APPROACH The difficulty is to find the financial resources to implement the project. Sing’Theatre produces plays and musicals and only half

of the production costs are paid by the tickets. The other half needs to be funded by sponsors or funding agencies. Sing’Theatre is most of the years in deficit! KEY SUCCESS FACTORS • Contribution to the Company’s Performance In 2011, we were able to have BNP Paribas as a presenting sponsor for our production of May (No Regrets, a tribute to Edith Piaf). We built the project together as Sing’Theatre and BNP Paribas shared the same beliefs that arts can empower less fortunate children. This project allowed us to produce the show, that ran during 12 performances with an audience of 3,000 because BNP Paris used this event also to invite their clients and do branding. • Environmental, social, and governance beneﬁts For Sing’Theatre, it is a way to show our sincere commitment to the Singapore society. We hope to be able to get more support (in cash or in manpower) from companies and individuals. We will soon launch a donors’s programme, sort of “Friends of Sing’Theatre” and we hope that this best practise will help us.

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Business Matching Forum Between SMEs & Large Groups

- Friday 19 April 2013 -

Join us and get new business opportunities! Forum Travailler Ensemble The ÂŤ Forum Travailler Ensemble Âť (Working Together Forum) is a great initiative that aims at reinforcing business links between FCCS Small & Medium-sized Enterprises and large groups established in Singapore. Based on the success of the previous editions, this year Forum will present an enhanced edition with a morning session featuring study cases of companies working together on sustainable partnerships.

More information on www.fccsingapore.com

Partners

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FCCS BUSINESS SERVICES

January 2013

French Companies in Singapore

Newly Set Up Companies Over the last few months, several French companies enjoyed our services supporting their business set up in Singapore in view of ensuring local company representation and enjoying development opportunities in the region. Among others:

FMA Pte Ltd provide Consulting Services in Information Technology, covering IT strategy, system integration and business transformation for companies operating in Southeast Asia. Based on 20 years experience in ICT programmes and operation management, we are able to provide ﬂexible and practical expertise to help you align your IT organisation, introduce innovation and drive business transformation and change management. Services provided:

Kaliop is a web engineering company specialising in web architecture. Kaliop uses its expertise to provide technical solutions for web projects, intranet and mobile: integration advices, software solutions, custom development, maintenance and hosting to both private and public sectors. Kaliop is recognised internationally for its work with open source content management system eZ Publish. Born in 2002 as the result of a deep connection to the environment and a personal

• Project management: Scalable ERP programme management and systems integration, from global organisation to small business units. Strong SAP implementation expertise especially in Template roll out and Business process alignment projects. Complex business integration and transformation programmes.

• Business transformation: our experience in operating in complex business environments with highly diverse, multi-national, multi-cultural, multilanguage stakeholders will serve you to develop change management programmes, improve communication with stakeholders and ensure talents retention and development.

• Strategy & organisation: We can assist you optimising your IT organisations, from the deﬁnition and coaching of project teams, to the alignment or implementation of IT support centres & service levels. We can also help you in ICT strategy deﬁnition: from IT infrastructure to introduction of innovation like mobile services, business intelligence and shared services organisations.

Francois MORIN, Managing Director, has spent the last 10 years managing global transformation projects and ICT operations in Africa and Asia Paciﬁc, for Marketing, Logistics and Oil & Gas organisations. F

commitment to sustainable development of its founder, the company has started its activity in the environmental sector, and more speciﬁcally in the development of applications for the large networks of French natural reserves.

plex projects with strong technical and marketing issues: - Multi-site platform. - Corporate website. - Multilingual environment. - Intranet / extranet platform integrated to information system. - E-business / community platform with high trafﬁc. - Application or mobile site.

Gradually, the business has acquired all the tools to develop web and intranet sites with high added value. Kaliop has built its reputation around key skills that leads to complex and strategic achievements: - Business analysis. - User experience. - And project management. Ranking as the world’s Top eZ Publish integrator, the company has been an eZ Premier Partner since 2009. Our knowledge of the eZ Publish product allows us to provide a comprehensive approach to com-

Contact: Mr François MORIN, Managing Director Email: fmapteltd@me.com

Kaliop aims at becoming an international scale IT group, specialist of web and mobile solutions for content distribution, while maintaining a fair and equitable relationship with its customers, employees, suppliers and institutional partners. F Contact: Mrs Françoise NAUTON-INGLIS, CFO Email: fnauton@kaliop.com Website: www.kaliop.com

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FCCS BUSINESS SERVICES

January 2013

PM (Progress Management) is an independent consulting ﬁrm specialising in SAP projects. We have a partnership with SAP since 1996, we are 6 partners, 100 consultants and our headquarter is based in Paris. Our turnover in 2011 was € 15 million.

For more than 20 years, VEDA France has been creating, manufacturing, and supplying reliable technical and aesthetic profiles and solutions for all types of buildings. We market a complete range of unique and/or patented building joints; structural movement joints, control joints, joint covers, fire barriers, waterstops, stair nosings, etc. Recognised as a leading specialist of building joints, our main areas of expertise are: • Structural movement joints: - Horizontal and vertical, all metal or with flexible insert structural movement joints for standard and seismic joints. • Fire barriers: - Vedafeu C backer-rods for joint width up to 200 mm.

French Companies in Singapore

We take simultaneously into account the information system aspect and the organisational one in the context of an evolution project. Our interventions apply to all domains of the companies: purchasing processes, logistics, sales, production planning, business and project management, business intelligence, accounting and controlling, company management, as well as the matters of integrating all these functions. In Singapore since January 2013, PM supports on-site the roll out of French subsidiaries of its customers across the Asian region.

- Vedafeu N blankets for joint width up to 840 mm with +/- 50% movement. • Joint covers: - Aluminium and PVC clips afﬁxed joint covers. - Drilled and countersunk aluminium joint covers. - Tailor-made folded joint covers in galvanised on stainless steel; mill or anodised ﬁnished aluminium. Our products are distributed in numerous countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The VEDA France products are supplied through distributors of building materials for all kinds of governmental and private projects, such as schools, hospitals, malls, industrial, commercial and military buildings, airports and rail terminals, leisure centres, car parks, etc. By maintaining a permanent and open

ing tools dedicated to thin ﬁlm processing.

Excico is a fast growing equipment company focusing on the semiconductor devise market and related industries. The company designs, manufactures and market high energy Exciplex laser anneal-

Excico has a strong technical and commercial background in high energy Exciplex laser technology, developed during the last ten years. This intense activity has resulted in a signiﬁcant intellectual property portfolio and unique know-how expertise.

Our references: - Food industry and Beverage: Remy Cointreau, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Malteurop, Cadbury, Valrhona, Cristal Union... - Retail & wholesale: Sephora, Picard Surgelés... - Precious Metals, Watch & Jewelry: LVMH W&J, Rolex, Metalor Technologies... - Services: IFBM/Qualtech. F Contact: Mr Fabrice PETRONI, Managing Director Email: fpe@pmconseil.com Website: www.pmconseil.com

communication with architects, engineers, contractors, agents and distributors, we constantly develop new systems to achieve the most challenging demands everywhere in the world. To ﬁnd out more about our range, please visit our website at www.vedafrance.com. Our innovation and effectiveness, our requirement for high quality and performance, as well as strict quality checks, conducted at factory or by world-class independent laboratories, allow us to grant the highest standards to every customer. Our new Singapore ofﬁce will offer close support to our customers and prospects, and ensure high-quality relationship over the Asian area. F Contact: Ms Mathilde RAYNAUD, South East Asia & India Chief representative Email: mathilde.raynaud@vedafrance.com Website: www.vedafrance.com

A leader in its ﬁeld, Excico’s annealing tool are the product of choice for leading edge semiconductor dopant activation, ﬁlm recrystallisation, annealing and sintering. F Contact: Mr Jose MULLER, Director WW Field Operation, Excico Website: www.excico.com

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BUSINESS SERVICES

FOCUS MAGAZINE

Tradeshows

January 2013

The FCCS Highlights French Expertise at Medical Fair Asia 2012 Held at Suntec from 12 to 14 September, 12 French companies joined the French Pavilion to showcase their world-class products and services at the Asia's leading medical and healthcare exhibition. Singapore concluded the 9th edition of this biennial exhibition with optimism as regional medical and health care scene shows rapid growth. Medical Fair Asia represents the dynamism that drives the global medical and health care sector, and this year's exhibition boasted another record attendance and participation in its ﬁfteen year history. Held since 1997, Medical Fair Asia featured strong international and regional presence with 528 companies from 31 countries to a

bustling show ﬂoor, along with 8,821 professional visitors with signiﬁcant numbers coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. In comparison to 2010, there was a 25% growth in visitors, of which 35% were from overseas. For the 6th time in a row, the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, with the support of Ubifrance, organised a French Pavilion where 12 French companies exhibited their latest technologies and

services. The FCCS organised networking events, offering opportunities for our exhibitors to broaden their business networks with qualiﬁed contacts. We had the pleasure to welcome HE Olivier Caron, Ambassador of France to Singapore, and Dr Amy Khor, Singapore Minister of State for Health, for a visit of the French Pavilion. We look forward to welcoming you at the French Pavilion at Medical Fair Asia 2014 from 9-11 September 2014! F

C2F Implants C2F Implants® specialises in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of knee and hip prostheses and ancillaries.

Huchinson Santé Hutchinson Santé has been developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative medical devices to prevent the risks of infection.

Cleanis Cleanis is a French manufacturer and distributor of disposable protective & hygienic products.

Kasios Kasios specialises in the development, manufacture and sales of synthetic bone substitutes for use in orthopaedics and dental surgery.

ECM ECM is a French manufacturer of colour Doppler scanners. Fii Fii, present in the Orthopaedic ﬁeld and more generally in Biomechanics, offers a wide range of implants and instrumentation.

OTR3 OTR3 is dedicated to the development of the Matrix Therapy in regenerative medicine with a new class of therapeutic agents, the RGTA®. SBM SBM is specialised in the design, manufacturing & distribution of biomaterials for bone surgery.

Gerflor Gerﬂor has been supplying PVC ﬂoorings to the private and governmental healthcare sector since 1936.

Soluscope Soluscope is a world leading actor in the ﬁeld of Endoscope hygiene.

Groupe Lépine Through 3 centuries of medical and surgical practices, Groupe Lépine has gained a great experience in the orthopaedic surgery ﬁeld.

THT Bio-Science THT bio-science is a major independent player in the design, research, production and sale of surgical implants.

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FCCS HR & TRAINING SERVICES

January 2013

Testimonials

The FCCS HR Department: An Efﬁcient Solution for Companies The FCCS HR Department is acting as a consulting agency. We assist companies hiring in Singapore in their search for French-speaking or multicultural talents. We offer support and advice in the recruitment process by assessing clients’ needs, selecting candidates matching requirements, and establishing a short list of candidates. With more than 70 placements in 2012, the HR department of the FCCS represents a dynamic and reliable partner. Here are testimonials from companies which recruited through our services. “Thanks to the FCCS Recruitment Service, we have successfully integrated our Regional Sales Manager, a key role for covering the Asian market. The HR Department of the FCCS has well understood our speciﬁc positioning in the area of Customer Relation Management and Call Centre Technologies and has managed the recruitment process with high level of quality, sensibility and reactivity.” Mrs Véronique Godart, Managing Partner, Activeo

“To support our development in Singapore, we needed to recruit profiles of confidence with a specific expertise who were able to fully understand Neurones IT Asia’s DNA and meet our specific needs. The FCCS HR Consultant has run an efficient recruitment process and perfectly understood our expectations. As a consequence, we have established a trust relationship with the FCCS and we will definitely contact them for our future recruitment needs.” Patricia RIVASSOU, Service Delivery Manager, Neurones IT

Upcoming Training Modules, Feb-May 2013 Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Thu 14

Highly Effective Management Practices for Asian and Western Managers Working Across Cultures Trainer: Mr Jean-François Cousin, 1-2-Win Executive Coaching

Tue 19

Coaching Essentials Trainer: Mrs Catherine Claudepierre, Cross-Culture Link

Thu 14

Learning Bites: Leading with Impact Trainer: Mr Sattar Bawany, Cegos APAC

Tue 20

Perfect Your Resume & Master LinkedIn to Boost Your Job search in Singapore Trainer: Mrs Halima Bel-Bachir & Mrs Christine Reuther, Step Up

Tue 20

Effective Networking Strategies for Job Seekers Trainer: Mrs Halima Bel-Bachir & Mrs Christine Reuther, Step Up

Thu 21

Business Etiquette in China and Singapore Trainer: ChineseGaga International Group

Thu 4

Mastering Budgeting & Cost Control Trainer: Mr Jean-Yves Le Corre, Best of Management

Thu 11

New Managers: Effective Delegation in a Multicultural Environment Trainer: Mrs Susanne Cupic, Globibo Singapore

Thu 18

Working Effectively in Virtual Teams Trainer: Ms Nicole Stinton, Stint On Stage

Thu 16

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) foundation course - with an introduction to ISO 26000 Trainer: Mrs Joelle Brohier Meuter, Anakout

Tue 21

Perfect Your Resume & Master LinkedIn to Boost Your Job Search in Singapore Trainer: Mrs Halima Bel-Bachir & Mrs Christine Reuther, Step Up

Tue 21

Effective Networking Strategies for Job Seekers Trainer: Mrs Halima Bel-Bachir & Mrs Christine Reuther, Step Up

Thu 30

High-Impact Communication and Presentation Skills Across Cultures, with Video-Practice Trainer: Mr Jean-François Cousin, 1-2-Win Executive Coaching

Personal Development

Management

Professionnal Skills

Jobsearch/Recruitment

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

FCCS Events

Welcome to Singapore 2012 Our annual “Rendez-Vous” brought together more than 160 persons this year, friends and new comers to Singapore. The gathering was a great opportunity for new expatriates to Singapore to get introduced to the French Business Community. Our event took place at AXA Campus, a 1920’s Heritage Building, which offers a pleasant atmosphere. H.E. Olivier Caron, Ambassador of France to Singapore, was our Guest of Honour and we thank him again for his kind and precious participation. The informative session was led by Pierre Verdière, President of the FCCS and Carine Lespayandel, Executive Director.

It was above all the occasion to explain the essential role played the FCCS as the representative entity of the French business community towards Singaporeans and other international business communities. The activities and services provided by the FCCS were reviewed and the President highlighted the great beneﬁts our members found in participating in our different committees, events and functions. A delicious buffet dinner followed the presentation: a well appreciated catering coupled with ﬁne wines. This friendly environment enabled the participants to create some precious networking links and the event closed at 10.30pm.

We would like to thank particularly AGS Four Winds, CIC Banque Transatlantique and Luther for their high and valuable support to our event. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

CEO Series / Asia Committee

Strategy of Orange Business Services in Asia Paciﬁc Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and a strategic place for most of the member companies of the FCCS.

laws and practices governing foreign investment in Myanmar with a focus on the new foreign investment law. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Finance Committee / Legal & Tax Committee

Trends in Asia for 2013: Economic, Financial & Political 65 regional and country managing directors, chief financial officers, finance directors and managers, as well as bankers, financial advisers and other consultants participated to the discussion. For this exceptional breakfast talk, we brought together two leading experts of economic and financial forecasting.

This breakfast talk organised by the Finance Committee was a unique opportunity for participants to prepare 2013 with a thorough review of the economic, ﬁnancial and political forecasts for the year.

Mr Manu Bhaskaran, partner and head of economic research at Centennial Group Inc, an economics consultancy, is a wellrenowned expert on economic and political risk assessment and forecasting in Asia. He presented the challenges ahead for Asia and identiﬁed key drivers for growth. He started his presentation by an overview of the global economy and key geopolitical risks that could affect it in 2013. He then described pan-Asian trends

and forecasts and ﬁnished by giving an insight country by country. Mr Hubert Testard, Minister Counsellor for Economic and Financial SAffairs, Embassy of France in Singapore, started by reminding the audience about the current situation with a specific focus on the Eurozone. He then presented the International Monetary Fund central scenario for Asia in 2013 with its forecasts and related risks. At the end, he gave an insightful analysis of strengths, weaknesses and policy issues for each ASEAN countries. After the presentations, a panel discussion gave the participants the opportunity to interact with the speakers and ask them burning questions regarding trends in Asia for 2013. F

Finance Networking Event The FCCS organised a networking evening event at Le Carillon de l'Angelus, a cozy place for a quiet conversation with drinks.

shared their views on ﬁnancial subjects in a relaxed ambiance, or simply discussed with other professionals.

This event provided the ideal opportunity for participants to exchange on ﬁnancial matters and to broaden their network, over a few glasses of wine. Participants

This evening gathered more than 30 ﬁnance professionals and offered an excellent platform for the exchange of ideas and experience. F

New Singapore Personal Data Protection Bill: How Will This New Law Affect Your Organisation? The Singapore Personal Data Protection Bill (DP Law), introduced in September 2012, will apply to all organisations regardless of size, scale or business activity. With this new law on the horizon, organisations must be prepared for the upcoming changes as they will face stiff criminal sentences and civil penalties in case of non-compliance. During this Tax & Legal Committee meeting, Mr Sherwin Lee, Legal Associate of Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral (“CVML”), and Mrs Mathilde Brousteau, Senior Associate of CVML introduced and explained

this new law and its consequences. This presentation detailed the legal framework of the DP Law and provided practical approaches to implement data protection compliance strategies and best practices as well as how subsidiaries of EU companies may complement such strategies with their obligations under EU directives. This committee meeting ended with a discussion where tax & legal professionals had the opportunity to ask questions and deepen their understanding of the law. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Energy/Infrastucture Committee

Power Generation Market in Southeast Asia This Energy/Infrastructure Committee meeting was exceptionally held at Alstom ofﬁce and brought together 25 participants to discuss Power Generation market opportunities. Mr Wouter Van Wersch, President Alstom Singapore, Alstom Power, Vice President, Asia Pacific, and Mr Mark Morey, Director of Fuel Intelligence and Director of Asia-Pacific Marketing, Alstom Power Singapore Pte Ltd, gave an

overview of Alstom and its active participation throughout the entire energy and transport infrastructure for Singapore (Power, Grid, Transport). They then presented an overview of the electric power supply system in ASEAN and Singapore, focusing on existing and new generating capacity and described the special challenges facing the country’s power generation and supply industry (grid network, import all fuels, tight air

emission limits). Finally, our speakers described the new high efﬁciency generating plants that Alstom is building in Singapore, and the positive impact they will have on the local economy. Following the presentation, committee members intensively discussed opportunities and challenges based on Alstom experience and expertise. F

Managing Health Risks in the Energy/Infastructure Sector ment and how to manage them effectively. The presentation was followed by a dynamic Q&A session. Other topics discussed during this session included: - Energy/Infrastructure projects in Asean region. - Matthew Monic from Air Liquide presented pipeline of regional Energy/Infrastructure projects. - Oil & Gas market outlook. The FCCS organised a session focusing on health risks within the Energy/Infrastructure sector. Dr Philippe Guibert, Regional Medical Director, Consulting Services for South & Southeast Asia, International SOS, was invited to share his experience and expertise

on health risk management. Dr Guibert started by describing International SOS case trends and then explained the outcomes of an effective and comprehensive health plan. Throughout the presentation, he used various case studies to illustrate the needs for health risk assess-

Mr Manuel Olivier, VP Operations, Total Oil Asia-Pacific, gave an overview of current trends on the oil and gas markets. After discussing potential opportunities for the sector, the 20 committee members ended the session by brainstorming on future projects. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Marketing & Communication Committee

Hot Tips & Best Practices to Boost Your Digital Strategy The Marketing & Communication Committee organised this exceptional talk with two experts on digital strategies. With the current economic climate, there has never been such a relevant time for companies to develop well thought out digital strategies that can have a positive inﬂuence on the ongoing success of their business. Held at the Traders Hotel, this breakfast talk brought together technology enthusiasts and marketing professionals to share their best practices. Customer experience and digital engagement are key drivers for proﬁtability and growth. PwC has initiated a digital customer experience assessment for the banking industry in Singapore. Mr Michiel van Selm, Director, Financial Services Industry Practice from PwC LLP Singapore, shared with the audience the results of this

assessment. Although focused on the banking industry the approach and lessons learned can be applied to most industries. Then, in a second part, Mr Louis-Bernard Carcouet, Product Manager from PropertyGuru, focused on the group’s successful mobile digital strategy. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing afﬂuence for property and the online boom, PropertyGuru is now Asia’s leading online property portal group, with a high-volume of online real estate presence across nine territories in Asia, including ofﬁces in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and partnerships with leading property websites in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam and China. The presentations were followed by a Q&A session where participants discussed on how to engage customers through digital strategy. F

Media & Social Media Landscape: Overview & Trends How does news come out? Print and broadcast media are still powerful and inﬂuential. They remain one of the most effective and far-reaching way to get message across. By communicating effectively with the press and working with the media in the right way, a company or a product can get greater public awareness. What is the global media landscape? Are Asian media different from Western media? How to deal with the press in Singapore?

Mrs Mai Tran, Executive Vice President, Ruder Finn Asia, gave an overview of the media landscape and introduced the revolution that brought the social media in the news. She presented the role of mobile technology in this shift and insisted on the need to re-think the media, the way it gets delivered and the way it is received. This Marketing & Communication Committee meeting brought together 25 Mar-

Com experts and ended with a very active Q&A session. F

Asia, Real Eldorado for Fragrance Business? products or luxury goods following the same rules, growth and strategy?

Cosmetics are booming in Asia, and countries of the region are deﬁnitely representing new opportunities for many brands. However, are fragrances like all cosmetics

With 10-year experience working on new fragrances launches and brands development for renowned international luxury names, Ms Marine Obin, Marketing Manager APAC, Interparfums, gave an overview of opportunities and challenges for fragrances to position themselves in the Asian market. She ﬁrst demonstrated how Asia is a growing yet very challenging market for fragrances with its own re-

quirements and cultural speciﬁcities. While describing major market trends, she explained in which ways the fragrance market is currently linked to the cosmetics one. She then identiﬁed existing marketing strategies and brand positioning that can lead to success. Following the presentation, the 20 MarCom experts who attended the Committee intensively discussed how to overcome barriers and adopt strategies best adapted to Asian market. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Luxury & Premium Retail Committee

Singapore as a Shopping Destination: Trends and Opportunities During this seminar organised by the Luxury & Premium Retail Committee of the FCCS, 60 participants gathered to learn more about Singapore’s retail sector and its current and future development plans. Eminent speakers provided an overview of all the factors that instil dynamism into the local retail scene and foster consumer spending. First, Ms Ariel Lee, Manager, Lifestyle, SPRING Singapore, gave an overview of the retail industry in Singapore, and shared their strategy for the Fashion sector. She explained how SPRING Singapore, an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, can help Singapore enterprises grow and how they are working towards building trust in Singapore products and services.

Ms Chan Jing Li, Manager, Retail, Singapore Tourism Board, then shared her insights on the trends in the region, tourism statistics, and the upcoming tourism developments. She ﬁrst presented an overview of travel landscape in Asia. She then described how Singapore has developed as a tourist-orientated city and how travel retail is a key component of the retail sector. She concluded by presenting new development projects that will be creating new opportunities in the local retail scene. Finally, Mr Manelik Sfez, Vice President, Partner & Corporate Marketing, Global Blue, presented Singapore as a luxury taxfree shopping destination, as well as the growing complex speciﬁcities of the Chinese traveller. During his presentation, he explained the concept of ‘Globe Shopper’

and how shopping became a vital part of tourism. He also gave a detailed proﬁling of the ‘Chinese globe shoppers’, their most important purchase factors, preferences and expectations. This seminar successfully ended with experiences’ exchange among the participants. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Sustainability Committee

Towards a Sustainable & Liveable Singapore Out of necessity, Singapore has adopted a sustainable approach in its land use and urban planning from day one after assuming independence. The FCCS Sustainability Committee along with the Energy and Infrastructure Committee organised a breakfast talk at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (URA).

For this exceptional talk, we had the pleasure to hear the views of Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the URA, who presented Singapore’s approach to balance economic, social and environmental considerations, future challenges and search for new solutions to be one of the most liveable cities in Asia today.

After the presentation, our guests were invited to a tour of the Singapore City Gallery. This event was a great success and allowed our participants to better understand Singapore’s development vision and approach. F

Luncheon with the French Ambassador for Bioethics & CSR The Sustainability Committee organised a special luncheon with H.E. Michel Doucin, French Ambassador for CSR and Bioethics. H.E. Michel Doucin, Ministre plénipotentiaire, has been the French Ambassador for Bioethics and Corporate Social Responsibility since 2008. His mission consists in representing France in the many organisa-

tions where standards are being negotiated regarding Corporate Social Responsibility. During this exceptional luncheon, our eminent speaker ﬁrst introduced the European Commission policy and main initiatives for Corporate Social Responsibility. Mr Doucin then outlined the state of CSR in France, and the main features of CSR public policy in France. He explained his role as a CSR

Ambassador and the Diplomacy of CSR. At last, he presented his vision on what French companies can do abroad and more speciﬁcally in Asia for pushing the CSR Agenda, and how they can beneﬁt from this. After his address, there was a discussion with the audience on the current CSR activities of FCCS companies in the region, and the perspectives. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Entrepreneurs Committee

Entrepreneurs / SME Inter-Chamber Networking Night The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, along with the American Chamber of Commerce and British Chamber of Commerce had the pleasure to invite our Entrepreneurs & SMEs members to a great Inter-Chamber Networking Night.

This evening offered an excellent platform for the exchange of ideas and experience sharing among the entrepreneurs and SMEs communities within the Chambers. Gathering more than 90 entrepreneurs, this was a perfect opportunity for them to mingle and broaden their network. F

Nurturing High-Tech Start-Ups in Singapore During this exceptional Entrepreneurs/ICT breakfast talk, Mr Leslie Loh, Managing Director, Red Dot Ventures – a successful entrepreneur and investor – shared his insight on the funding landscape in Singapore. He gave a ﬁrst-hand account on how a local entrepreneur can raise money for his/her startup from seed-stage to growth-stage, and what an investor looks

for in any business venture. Then, Mr Sébastien Guillaud, Managing Director, Hera Capital, focused on capital raising and shareholder value creation: how performing start-ups leverage the money hunting exercise to turn their companies 'Investor Ready'. Using his past experience as CEO of a software company

and current one raising funds for and investing into technology start-ups, Sébastien shared with our attendees what matters most for investors when they look at early stage investment opportunities. Participants then had the opportunity to interact with the speakers during the ﬁnal Q&A session. F

Implementing Sustainable Development in Your SME for Improving Your Business SMEs can improve their business through Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Sustainability can indeed help them: - Develop new products and services based on Sustainability. - Gain and reinforce client trust. - Build employee loyalty. - Manage cost – better productivity and quality thanks to human resources management and better efﬁciency of material, energy use. - Strengthen access to credit. In this context, the Sustainability & Entrepreneurs Committees invited FCCS Entre-

preneurs members to this meeting to hear case studies from SMEs which implemented sustainable actions and practices. Mrs Nathalie Ribette, Artistic and Executive Director, Sing’Theatre and Ms Carine Lamalle, Research Director, IPSOS Singapore, shared with the audience the sustainable actions they have implemented in their company. In addition to these case studies and in order to support Sustainability practices in SMEs, two large French MNCs, Schneider Electric and Vallourec, were there to mentor SMEs. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

ICT Committee

Half-day Seminar on Agile Development Agile software development is a new approach for software engineering that has proven effective in improving product time-to-market, in eliminating (or avoiding) waste and delivering high quality software products. The Agile movement was initially created as a reaction against "heavyweight" methods experienced, mainly by business VIPs, as bureaucratic and non-effective. Today the Agile concepts have matured and a growing number of organisations are introducing Agile practices to optimise the performance of their software processes. This seminar provided our IT experts with a mix of presentations with relevant case studies from major French MNCs. After the introduction on Agile development by Mr Yann Hamon, Director Asia, Inspearit, we welcomed Mr Nagarjuna Challa, Team Leader, ITSS, Essilor, for the ďŹ rst case

study. After a short networking break, Mr Ketut Mahaindra, R&D Manager and Certified Scrum Master, Gemalto, shared his insights on how Agile is used at Gemalto, and least but not least, Mr Mark Nord, Head of Offshore Risk IT, Credit

Agricole CIB, shared his views on Agile development. This half-day seminar ended with a panel discussion animated by the FCCS ICT Committee President, Mr Jean Garez. F

ICT Inter-Chamber Networking Night The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, along with the American Chamber of Commerce and British Chamber of Commerce had the pleasure to invite its members to the ICT InterChamber Networking Night. The evening was a great success with 100 participants and offered an excellent platform for the exchange of ideas and experience sharing among the ICT Community within the Chambers. F

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS

January 2013

Business Women Network Committee

”Miss Representation" Movie Screening As part of its Business Women Network Committee, the FCCS organised the movie screening of “Miss Representation” at the Arts House, an event which brought together 40 business women to discuss the place of women in society. Following the screening, a discussion was led by a panel of inspiring speakers: - Ms Halima Bel-Bachir: Co-Founded Elles Network, a platform dedicated to supporting and empowering French speaking women entrepreneurs in Singapore. - Ms Joanne Nabonne: Business De-

velopment Director – SEA & ANZ, The Red Flag Group. - Mrs Veronique Helft-Malz: PH. D. Political Science.

how to protect their children from negative representation and educate their daughters to become empowered women. F

The panel speakers encouraged women to share their experiences which led to an insightful exchange on discrimination and how women are being portrayed in the media and perceived at their workplace. Especially, women raised concerns about future generations and discussed

Self-Management and Self-Projection differently from our own self-perception, especially in business environment where managing and handling stressful situations is an essential skill for success. Learning how to communicate in these situations is therefore a real asset.

Self-projection is related to self-esteem and the way we communicate with others, but how to successfully project the right image? It can be frustrating to be perceived

During this Business Women Network Committee meeting, our speaker Ms M. J. Jennings, Director, Active Communication, addressed some key points related to self-projection and how

to manage it in a workplace environment. Using participative methodology, she engaged committee members to reflect on boundaries, looking at ways of setting limits and boundaries for self and others while dealing with emotions during stressful situations. She then explored how to build ones self-confidence and esteem through assertive communication. She finally introduced the 4 V’s rule to project the right image. 20 Business Women took part in this engaging session where they had the opportunity to apply communication methods to real life situations. F

Drive Performance Through Personal Development In today's fast paced environment with challenging goals, companies face a constant need, with limited time to develop their staff with the right skills & tools to upkeep with their business performances. The HR Committee organised this breakfast talk to address this pressing need and invited three inspirational speakers to explore how personal development is related to performance at work. Mr Amine Delage, Managing Director, L&P Management, presented the roadmap

development explaining the major steps needed to prepare and implement an increase in your people performance. Our second speaker, Ms Catherine Claudepierre, Coach, Trainer, Facilitator, Consultant, Cross-Culture Link, explained how creating a coaching culture in organisations can contribute in improving knowledge, skills and engagement to achieve sustainable performance and personal growth. Our last speaker, Mr Thierry Moschetti,

Managing Director Singapore, The Resilience Institute, explained how to unlock the biological resources of body, heart, mind and spirit and build practical Resilience competencies to live and work productively without compromising health and well-being. He also presented challenging new research on how the brain, body and emotion interact to drive sustainable performance, engagement and creativity. These presentations were followed by engaging discussions between speakers and participants. F

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January 2013

R&D Committee

Euraxess Links Singapore: Keeping the Connection to the European Research Community The R&D Committee invited Mr Christian Wilk, EURAXESS Links Information Officer and General Manager of metacognition consulting, to give an overview of Euraxess Links.

ASEAN. Euraxess Links provides information about research in Europe, European research policy, opportunities for research funding, for international collaboration and for trans-national mobility.

Euraxess Links is a networking tool for European researchers working outside Europe and non-European ones wishing to pursue a research career in Europe. It has thus far been launched in the USA, Japan, China, India and Singapore, whereas the ﬁrst EURAXESS Links "hub" is being launched this year as Euraxess Links

The objective of Euraxess Links is to maintain the link of Europe with European and non-European researchers, scientists and scholars abroad thus rendering them an important resource for European research and for stimulating scientiﬁc cooperation between Europe and the third-countries where they live and work.

The multidisciplinary network involves researchers at all stages of their careers and allows them to become well connected amongst themselves and with Europe, ensuring that they are recognised as an important resource for the European Research Area, whether they remain abroad or choose to return. Through the success of the network, Euraxess Links is intended to contribute to the improvement of Europe's position in the global competition for talent, and the reinforcement of research collaboration. F

Presentation of Sanoﬁ's Activities & Focus on the Development in Asia The Research & Development Committee welcomed Mr Jean-Philippe Lopez, Site Director of the IA Bio-Chemistry Site in Jurong, sanofi-aventis Group, to present the global healthcare leader’s activities in Singapore and in Southeast Asia. Our speaker shared with our members sanoﬁ-aventis’ strategy and vision and focused on the development activities in Asia. This committee meeting was well received with more than 25 participants and our members took an active part in the Q&A session at the end of the presentation. F

Site Visit: City of the Future The FCCS R&D Committee and the German Chamber of Commerce’s R&D Committee invited its members to visit the Siemens’ “City of the Future”.

planners can meet with Siemens to discuss and solve the obstacles they are facing today or will be facing tomorrow.

The City of the Future is a futuristic and interactive exhibition and solutions centre for modern, efficient and innovative city management. The vision was to create a point at which city authorities and

This joint-event was again a great opportunity for our members to broaden their network with their German counterparts and of course to discover Siemens’s vision for future cities. F

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January 2013

FCCS Events

The FCCS Celebrates Its Revamped Offices with its Patron Members! The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore invited its Patron Members, Board Members and Presidents of Committees to an exclusive cocktail to celebrate its brand new offices. With a cocktail specially prepared by Chef Julien Bompard, we had the pleasure to welcome His Excellency Mr Olivier Caron, Ambassador of France to Singapore. This cocktail party was a great opportunity for our Patrons & Board Members to visit our new offices! F

Networking Event with the Club VIE The Club VIE and The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (FCCS) had the pleasure to invite its members and friends to a special networking event! This evening held at Wine Connection "Bar & Bistro", Cuppage Terrace, offered an excellent platform for experience sharing

between former and current VIE/VIAs (Volontariat International en Entreprise/en Administration). With more than 60 participants, this represented a great opportunity to broaden your network in a relaxed atmosphere! F

Business + Gastronomy = FCCS Monthly Luncheons Every ﬁrst Friday of each month, the FCCS organises a business luncheon in a French restaurant, every time in a new venue with a different menu. These informal networking sessions create excellent opportunities to develop new contacts and exchange ideas on business issues while enjoying some great French food. Our last four luncheons took place at L’Assiette Restaurant, Paul Bakery, Le Saint Julien Restaurant, Bistro du Vin @ Zion. Visit our website www.fccsingapore.com to see our next business luncheons and broaden your network! F

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January 2013

French Gourmet Committee

Great Success for the 2nd Edition of the French Marché! During a whole week in November, the French Marché organised by the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore brought to Plaza Singapura some touches of our French Culture, smell and taste of our French gastronomy, and French Art de Vivre! One could meet French Artisans, eat crêpes, taste and buy regional products such as cheeses, tapenades, foie gras, wines and liquors, discover French art-ofliving and learn more about the French culture! We would like to thank the Voilah! French Festival which was our main sponsor for this second edition of the French Marché and all the vendors who participated and contributed to make this marché real and lively by introducing France’s gastronomy, art de vivre and culture to Singaporans! F

THE EXHIBITORS

SINGAPOUR

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FCCS CLUB EVENTS French Gourmet Committee

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January 2013

French Gourmet Committee

La Paulée de Singapour - A Friendly Second Edition! On Sunday 2 December, the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (FCCS) launched for the second time La Paulée de Singapour at Fort Canning Park! Originally from Meursault in the heart of Burgundy, La Paulée celebrates the end of the grape harvest. This celebration used to include wine markers, cellar workers and the surrounding community. It has since evolved to become an international wine event that Singaporeans can now also enjoy every year in the framework of the Voilah! French Festival.

Almost 300 happy guests enjoyed a typical French meal, with an excellent “Terrine de canard aux pistaches” for starter, a “Jambon à l'os sauce au Chablis” for main, and a delicious “Mousse grand cru de chocolat et sa compote de mangues au praliné noisette” for desert, served by L’Angelus and Laurent Bernard from The Chocolate Factory. All this accompanied with a unique variety of French wines by the glass! We would like to thank The Regional Council of Burgundy who was our main sponsor, and our supporting sponsors:

Gourmet Partner, Orangina, Paul, Perrier, Vittel and all the wineries Authentic Wine Explorer, eWineAsia and Louis Max who presented their exquisite wines. A special thanks to Gabriel de Balasy, Philippe Hoyez and David Lim from L'Angelus for co-organising this successful event. We look forward to seeing you at the 3rd edition of La Paulée de Singapour! F

Watch the video on www.fccsingapore.com

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January 2013

FCCS Events

Fair Play for our 4th FCCS Futsal Tournament 2012 First of all we would like to thank all the players for their sporting attitude and team spirit during our third Futsal Tournament which took place on Saturday 13th October at Sports Planet, East Coast Park. Our 100 players, split into 12 teams, enjoyed a half day-long tournament on a hot day outdoors in a relaxed atmosphere. This 4th edition was again a real success! Players gained forces for the afternoon by enjoying the buffet lunch. Then, play-off and ﬁnals separated the best teams. The prize ceremony took place at 2.30 pm, presented by Valérie Gaume from the FCCS.

… And the 2012 Futsal Tournament winner team is… Eurocopter!

We take this opportunity to thank our Gift Sponsors: Fei Yue Shoes, L'Oréal, and the Traders Hotel.

The runner up of the main tournament is Natixis. The Plate Tournament was won by Schneider Electric. The runner up of the plate tournament is Turbomeca. We sincerely congratulate our winners! This event would not have been possible without the support of Alstom, we take this opportunity to thank them again for their support!

A special thank goes to Pierre Rico from Football Passion who organised the tournament. The FCCS hopes to see you again for another enjoyable Futsal Tournament! F

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FCCS MEMBERSHIP

January 2013

FCCS New Members

FCCS New Members We are very pleased to welcome the following new members who recently joined the French Chamber of Commerce. Please visit www.fccsingapore.com for more details.

CORPORATE MEMBERS 40-30 SINGAPORE BRANCH

HERMITAGE WINES

Contact: Mr Steven SNG, Site Director Website: www.40-30.com

Contact: Ms Josephine NG, Director Website: www.hermitagewine.com Sector: Wine & Wine Shops

ACTIVEO Contact: Mrs Veronique GODART, Managing Partner Website: www.activeo.com Sector: ICT

JOEL ROBUCHON RESTAURANT Contact: Mr Tomonori DANZAKI, Executive Chef Website: www.rwsentosa.com Sector: Restaurants

ADECCO PERSONNEL PTE LTD

KALIOP

Contact: Mr Christophe DUCHATELLIER, Regional Head Asia Website: www.adecco.com Sector: Human Resources

Contact: Mr Luc DENISET, Chief Representative Website: www.kaliop.sg Sector: Media / Communication

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE (AFP) Contact: Mr Roberto Z. COLOMA, Bureau Chief Website: www.afp.com Sector: Media

LOUIS VUITTON INFORMATION & OPERATION SERVICES Contact: Mr Christophe RAVIER, Business Programme Director Website: www.louisvuitton.com Sector: Luxury Goods

BIOMERIEUX SINGAPORE Contact: Mr Florent MULATERO, General Manager Website: www.biomerieux.com Sector: Biomedical

NEURONES IT

BISTRO DU VIN

Contact: Mr Arnaud PIERRE, Marketing & Sales Manager Website: www.neurones.net Sector: ICT

Contact: Mr Philippe PAU, Director Website: www.lesamis.com.sg Sector: Restaurants

PIERRE FABRE DERMO-COSMETIQUE REP OFFICE

BRASSERIE GAVROCHE Contact: Mr Frédéric COLIN, Chef / Owner Website: www.brasseriegavroche.com Sector: Restaurants

Contact: Mr Frédéric CHARLES, ASEAN Area Manager Website: www.pierre-fabre.com Sector: Dermo-Cosmetics

PWC LLP (SINGAPORE) CHIC MAISON Contact: Mrs Isabelle VIRAG, Business Director Website: www.youarechic.com Sector: Luxury Design Studio

Contact: Mr Frédéric BAUDIN, Associate Director Accounting Consulting Services Website: www.pwc.com/sg Sector: Legal / Audit / Consultants

GALERIES BARTOUX SINGAPORE

THALGO

Contact: Ms Isabelle BARTOUX, General Manager Website: www.galeries-bartoux.com Sector: Arts

Contact: Mrs Elodie WARNER, Regional Director Website: www.thalgo.com Sector: Cosmetics

HEC PARIS

VITABLEND ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

Contact: Mr François COLLIN, International Director Website: www.hec.edu Sector: Education

Contact: Mr Marc DUCHENE, General Manager Website: www.vitablend.com.sg Sector: Nutritional Fortiﬁcation & Protection Solutions

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Janaury 2013

FCCS New Members

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS ABEAM CONSULTING (SINGAPORE)

MSH INTERNATIONAL SEA

Contact: Mr Luc D'ANTERROCHES, FSI BU leader for Southeast Asia Website: www.abeam.com Sector: ICT

Contact: Mr Paul-Dominique WIN VACHARASINTHU, CEO Website: sea.msh-intl.com Sector: Healthcare Solutions

MAKARIM & TAIRA S.

THE RED FLAG GROUP

Contact: Mrs Rahayu N. HOED, Managing Partner Website: www.makarim.com Sector: Legal / Audit / Consultants

Contact: Ms Joanne NABONNE, Business Development Director - SEA & ANZ Website: www.redﬂaggroup.com Sector: Legal / Audit / Consultants

ENTREPRENEUR MEMBERS ASCOT EXPATS

QUEST INTERACTIVE

Contact: Mr Loïc SEGUIN, Conseil en Gestion de Patrimoine Indépendant Website: www.ascot-expats.sg Sector: Bank / Finance / Investment

Contact: Mr Quentin BERNARD, Director Website: www.quest-interactive.com.sg Sector: Education & Training

HOUSE OF ANLI INTERIORS

Contact: Mrs Juliana BERNARD-BRUNEL, Regional Director Website: www.simpleshow.com Sector: Media / Communication

SIMPLESHOW ASIA Contact: Mrs Anne-Jean LIETAER, Managing Director Website: www.houseofanli.com Sector: Interiors and Art-de-la-Table

SKYLIGHT PARTNER LUCIDE GROUP

Contact: Mrs Beatrice VIASNOFF, Executive Coaching and Consulting Company Website: www.skylightpartner.com Sector: Human Resources

Contact: Mr Guillaume GARAGNON, Managing Director Website: www.lucideparis.com Sector: Luxury Goods

WIT SINGAPORE MATERIA MERCHANTS TRADING

Contact: Mr Nicolas AUBERTIN, Managing Director Website: www.drinkintube.com.sg Sector: Wine in Tube

Contact: Mr Alexis SUZAT, Director Website: www.materia-merchants.com Sector: Commodity Trade

OPEN YOUR EYES CONSULTING Contact: Mrs Diane DE THOMASSON, Consultant Website: www.openyoureyesconsulting.com Sector: Human Resources

I nfinite Pathways your trade routes to Asia

INFINITE PATHWAYS Contact: Mr Didier SALVETAT, Managing Director Website: ipathways.asia Sector: Administrative & Support Services

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS MR THOMAS AUBRY, Regional Sales - Transaction Banking, UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LIMITED (UOB) Sector: Bank MR SERGE BERAUD, Director, Business Process Services, Asia Paciﬁc, FUJI XEROX ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD Sector: Outsourcing & Consulting Services MR PATRICE DENIZARD, VP Sales & Service Asia, COGNEX SINGAPORE Sector: Industrial Products / Manufacturing

MR DAVID ENNES MRS MARYSE KRAATZ MR HERVÉ RICHERT, Executive Director Sales & Marketing (International), GITI TIRE Sector: Tire Industry

MR OLIVIER SPAENLE, Senior Finance Leader

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FCCS MEMBERSHIP

January 2013

FCCS Privilege Card

FCCS Privilege Card Terms & conditions apply. Visit www.fccsingapore.com for more details. AGS FOUR WINDS - Up to 30 days free storage rent in Singapore. - Groupage offer to Paris starting from S$440 /m2.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE - 5% off any French tuition. - 10% off any French tuition tailored to a company’s needs & given in the company premises.

AU PETIT SALUT - Special rate for use of private dining room.

BISTRO DU VIN & AU JARDIN - 10% off all Food & Beverage at Bistro du Vin at Shaw Centre, Bistro du Vin at 56 Zion Road and Au Jardin at Botanic Gardens.

CITROËN TT SINGAPORE - 50€ discount for the FCCS members.

EDITIONS DIDIER MILLET (EDM) - 20% off on speciﬁc titles with free delivery, or - 40% off on speciﬁc titles with self-collection.

FOREST ADVENTURE - 10% off on individual tickets, birthday packages and merchandising.

FOXYSALES - A permanent 10% discount on your orders.

FRASERS HOSPITALITY - 10% off Best Available Rates.

FRENCH TERROIRS - 10% off all wines (+ gift for 6 bottles purchased). - 10% off all products for corporates above S$300.

FRENCH TOAST LEARNING CENTRE - 10% off group classes held at French Toast. - 10% off tailored Corporate Courses. - Free 1-Hour Private Tuition trial

GLOBIBO - 6% off Translation Services. - 11% off Interpretation & Language Courses. - 6% off Language Courses. - 11% off Corporate Training Course.

GRAND HYATT SINGAPORE - 15% off food at mezza9, 10 SCOTTS, Pete’s Place, Oasis.

GRAND MERCURE ROXY HOTEL - 15% off on dinner at selected restaurants. - 10% off Best Available Rate for guest rooms.

HEDIARD - S$25 gift certiﬁcate at Hediard Café with a min spend of S$100 at the Hediard Boutique.

HERMITAGE - 10% off all wine list.

HILTON SINGAPORE HOTEL - 10% off Wine Classes.

IBIS HOTEL SINGAPORE BENCOOLEN - 30% off upon ordering set menu. - 10% off Best Available Rate for guest rooms.

JOËL ROBUCHON RESTAURANT - Complimentary glass of Kir Royal to each guests.

L'ASSIETTE - 10% off total bill.

LAURENT BERNARD - 10 % for corporate orders - $ 300-$999. - 15% for corporate orders - $ 1000–1999. - 20% for corporate orders - $ 2000 and above.

LOMIG & THE FRENCH GROCER - 10% off all HELICIUM Glasses (set of 2). - 2 complimentary units with purchase of 6 HELICIUM glasses of the same model. - 5% off food for 500$ and above orders trough www.thefrenchgrocer.com.

PETIT BATEAU - 10% off regular items.

RAFFLES HOTEL, SINGAPORE - 20% off all Food & Beverage outlets. - 10% off meeting, seminar & banquet packages.

SURVIVAL CHIC LIFESTYLE MEMBERSHIP - 10% off 1-year Survival Chic Membership.

THE RESILIENCE INSTITUTE - 1 complimentary Diagnostic.

TRADERS HOTEL, SINGAPORE - 15% off Food & Beverage at Cafebiz & Ah Hoi’s Kitchen.

WINES2U - 15% off on Champagne Moutard. - 10% off on all other wines for a minimum order of 12 bottles per purchase.

ZWIESEL - 15% off all items.

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