Orient Issue 55

Orient

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - SINGAPORE

SPECIAL FEATURES

16 21

ISSN 0219-1245

9 770219 124002

55

Singapore At 50 In Focus: Andrew Bunn, Emirates

Building Networks Connecting Business Creating Opportunities WWW.BRITCHAM.ORG.SG

ISSUE 55 / SEP 15

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Contents

11

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

13

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE SPECIAL FEATURES

16

Singapore at 50

21

In Focus: Andrew Bunn, Emirates

FEATURES 26

Singapore: An Economy in Transition

30

Sir Martin Sorrell Interviews eCommerce Giant Jack Ma

34

What is Content Marketing? Is it Just More Hype?

38

Engaging Employees Overseas: Avoiding the Pitfalls

41

Piracy in Southeast Asia

44

Budgeting for IT

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION / UKTI 46

Singapore and Southeast Asia: Key to the UK’s Prosperity

AT THE CHAMBER 50

Britain in Southeast Asia News

52

Business Group News

54

Business Services News

56

BritCham New Members

58

Sterling News

61

Corporate News

64

Members’ Offers

66

Events

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Sponsors GOLD AND DIVERSITY SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER AND BREAKFAST CLUB SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

BRITCHAM BOARD:

Membership: Damian Adams

PRESIDENT: Hugo Walkinshaw: Ernst & Young Advisory Pte Ltd

BUSINESS GROUP CHAIRPERSONS: Diversity: Stephen Trevis Energy & Utilities: Damian Adams Entrepreneur & Small Business: Jonathan O‘Byrne & Miles Gooseman (Co-Chair) Financial Services: Gary Haran Doyle IT & Communications Technology: Andrew Pickup (Chairperson), Chris Reed (Co-Chair) Leadership: Zsuzsanna Tungli & Mike Hughes (Co-Chair) Manufacturing & Operations: Ramil Fakhretdinov Professional Services: Mark Chowdhry (Chairperson), Anna Tan (Co-Chair) Property & Construction: Marcus Eckersley Scottish Business Group: Neil Mclnnes Shipping Transport & Logistics: Neil Johnson Sustainability & Responsibility: Rosie Danyluk Women in Business: Sian Brown Young British Chamber: Zoë Marmot

VICE-PRESIDENTS: Damian Adams: Simmons & Simmons Mark Buchan: Grant Thornton Advisory SECRETARY: Chris Kilburn: Watson, Farley & Williams Asia Practice LLP TREASURER: TBC BOARD MEMBERS: Andrew Vine: The Insight Bureau Ian Williams: HSBC Bank Robert Williams: British Airways Terence Yuen: BP Singapore Sian Brown: Barclays Bank PLC David Pugh: The Fry Group Richard Warburton: EC Harris Annabel Moore: Diageo Singapore Pte Ltd Bicky Bhangu: Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte Ltd Ronald Totton: BT Singapore Rudi Geerdink: The Royal Bank of Scotland Judith Slater: British High Commission Roland Davies: British Council Pradeep Rana: Standard Chartered Bank COMMITTEES: Business Group: Richard Warburton Events: Mark Buchan External Affairs: Bicky Bhangu Editor: Vipanchi vipanchi@britcham.org.sg

Orient is a quarterly magazine published by the British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore.

Content Coordinator: Clara Tan

© All rights reserved.

39 Robinson Road #11-03 Robinson Point Singapore 068911 Tel: +65 6222-3552 Fax: +65 6222-3556 Email: info@britcham.org.sg www.britcham.org.sg

The views and opinions expressed or implied in Orient are those of the authors or contributors and do not reflect those of the British Chamber of Commerce, its officers or editorial staff. No reproduction of articles without the prior permission of the Chamber. Unsolicited transparencies and articles are sent at owner’s risk

MANAGEMENT TEAM Executive Director: Brigitte Holtschneider Finance Manager: Pauline Yeo Business Services Manager: Carole McCarthy Senior Events Manager: Alexandra Packman Membership Manager: Katie Hudson Marketing & Communications Manager: Vipanchi Membership & Events Support Manager: Emi Hosono Marketing & Communications Executive: Clara Tan Business Services Advisor: Umagliya Kankanangai Tina Business Services Advisor: Jared Sim Office Administration Executive: Anna C Garciso and the Chamber accepts no liability for loss or damage. Copy is not for sale and images belong to their respective owners. They are for illustrative purposes only, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Sub-edited, designed and printed by: NOVUS CONTENT. DI G I TAL. PUBLI SH ING.

www.novusasia.com

Contact: Simon Cholmeley simonc@novusasia.com Design: Kevin Ong kevinong@novusasia.com Khairunnisa khai@novusasia.com Sub Editors: Chua Kim Beng kimbeng@novusasia.com Chin Wei Lien weilien@novusasia.com Creative Services: Kwan Gek Lian gek@novusasia.com

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Hugo Walkinshaw

President, British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore

President’s Message

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

Dear Members,

I write this message as the festivities of the long Jubilee weekend commemorating Singapore’s 50th Birthday come to an end. It was a special occasion for everyone in Singapore, and a time to reflect not only on the astounding economic progress of this city-state, but also the partnerships, past and present, that have contributed to its success. Underlining the close friendship between the UK and Singapore, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond represented the UK at the formal celebrations.

Preceding the celebrations, Prime Minister David Cameron visited Singapore. His trip strengthened old ties that date back almost two centuries, as well as forging new ties for future economic cooperation. I was privileged to meet him briefly during the reception at Eden Hall organised by the British High Commission. In his speech, he shared three key messages, all of which I believe are relevant to our members and to businesses in the UK as well as Singapore. They were as follows:

Invest in Britain: With the UK being one of the most open markets in the world and a gateway to the European markets, he encouraged businesses in Singapore and Southeast Asia to invest in the UK.

Invest more in Singapore and Southeast Asia: Addressing the Northern Powerhouse Trade Mission delegates and British Business Leaders in Singapore, the Prime Minister highlighted the strong trading links and relationships in the region and encouraged them to invest in Singapore and the region.

Take pride in our values: Britain and Singapore are successful because of our values and best practices in all areas, whether it is innovation and creativity or human rights.

The Chamber and its offerings not only echo the Prime Minister’s message, but also provide the support and the network necessary for businesses to expand in the region.

So I encourage all members to make full use of their membership and explore all the opportunities the Chamber has to offer.

On the horizon is the Annual Business Awards, which is now in its 16th year.

The Awards has grown to become one of the most popular business events in Singapore, and I encourage you to book your tables early. I look forward to seeing you at the Awards Gala Dinner, which will be hosted at Shangri-La Hotel Singapore on 1 Oct.

Best Regards

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Executive Director’s Message

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

Dear Members, I can’t believe I am already writing a message for the Q3 2015 edition of Orient—the year is almost gone!

The Chamber looks back on a particularly busy and exciting summer, with Prime Minister Cameron’s visit, the Northern Powerhouse mission bringing 62 companies from the greater Manchester area, as well as many activities around Singapore’s 50th birthday celebrations.

Prime Minister Cameron and his delegation were on a whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia, which meant they only had two days on the ground in Singapore. There was, thus, no time for an exclusive session for Chamber members. His visit focused on strengthening the economic relationship between the two countries, providing further assistance to the Singapore Navy to tackle the threat from piracy and improve maritime security, and building closer co-operation with Singapore in areas such as research and development and cyber security.

Brigitte Holtschneider

Executive Director, British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore

Southeast Asia is playing an increasingly prominent role in world economics; it is a very important region to the UK. During this trip, the Prime Minister agreed to a UK-Singapore Innovation & Research Partnership, backed by a joint funding of £500,000 to help small- and medium-sized companies collaborate in the development and demonstration of smart cities. We believe this is excellent news, as it should encourage British SMEs active in advanced engineering, ICT, high-tech and creative industries to open shop in Singapore.

We are delighted to be able to publish and share Sharanjit Leyl’s very own Singapore Story. Many of you will know her as the face of the Chamber’s Business Awards Gala Dinner; she is going to moderate her ninth event on 1 Oct! Members who were in Singapore the week before 9 Aug had the chance to participate in a commemorative service organised by SBF. Board Member and Chair of the External Affairs Committee Bicky Banghu delivered a congratulatory message on behalf of all Chamber members in a video, which was aired at the ceremony. You can view and download the video at www.britcham.org.sg/sg50 We welcomed Scott Wightman, the new British High Commissioner to Singapore, at a board meeting in June. We are going to collaborate very closely with him in many Chamber and business matters. One central scheme is the continuously growing partnership between UKTI and the Chamber in the Overseas Business Initiative (OBNi).

Business Services Advisors U K Tina and Jared Sim, Carole McCarthy, and I are in close contact with Scott’s team in Singapore and the UKTI team in London to further develop the operating model. I will share a full report in the next issue.

The key Chamber network priorities going into the last quarter of 2015 are: • 1 Oct: The 16th Annual Business Awards Gala Dinner • 6 Nov: Leaders in Business lunch with Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of EDB • 12 Nov: Annual Economic Briefing • 5 Dec: Our Annual Ball. This year’s theme is ‘Colours of Singapore’, in honour of the 50th birthday of the nation many of us call home.

I look forward to seeing you at one or all of the above occasions!

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/britishchamber-of-commerce-singapore Twitter @britchamsg

Best wishes,

Building Networks Connecting Business Creating Opportunities

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Sterling Members

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

SINGAPORE

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Special Feature

Singapore at

By Sharanjit Leyl Besides being the producer-presenter of Newsday and Asia Business Report on BBC World News, Sharanjit Leyl is a familiar face at the British Chamber’s Business Awards, which she has hosted for nearly a decade. But could you have guessed that she was born, and spent much of her formative years, in Singapore, before moving overseas as a teenager?

50

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F

ifty years ago, Singapore became an independent state after leaving the short-lived Malaysian Federation.

With no natural resources, just how did this tiny country go from swamp to one of the region’s leading economies? On the strength of its human resources— immigrants such as my grandfather.

Singaporeans are among the world’s wealthiest populations—Ferraris and Rolls Royces are a common sight on the clean streets. It’s a far cry from the island’s humble beginnings, when more than a million Singaporeans lived in ‘squatters,’ makeshift wooden houses in villages known by the Malay term ‘kampongs.’

At the age of 17, with only the shirt on his back, Fauja Singh left his parents in a small Punjabi village and made the long and dusty journey on foot and by train to Kolkata (Calcutta), where he caught a ship to his new home. This was the early 1930s.

My father and his siblings grew up on a large plot of land that sits in current-day Bukit Merah, an area in central Singapore whose name means ‘Red Hill’ in Malay. My grandfather claimed the land by planting a perimeter of banana trees that formed dense foliage and kept others out. Then he built a house so large, he would later rent out its back rooms to lodgers. But the house, like many at the time, was rudimentary.

He arrived in a melting pot of cultures and chaos on an island called Singapore, which had a river bustling with trade.

The makings of modern Singapore began when the British arrived in 1819 under the leadership of Sir Stamford Raffles at what was then a swamp-filled jungle. Lying at the mid-point of the shipping route between India and China, it became a thriving trading port, and with this trade came a huge influx of immigrants from all over Asia.

Life was not easy for the new arrivals.

Many from China worked as labourers and lived in squalid and cramped conditions.

Fauja worked in jobs ranging from night watchman to milk vendor and moneylender.

When he had made enough money, he went home to fetch his brother, sister and young bride from Amritsar.

Fauja and his wife, Swaran Kaur, had eight children. His eldest son, Kernail, excelled academically and made it to the country’s most prestigious school, Raffles Institution.

He went on to win scholarships at university and, after graduating, joined the government of a young and newly independent nation.

Fauja Singh was my grandfather, and Kernail, my father. They paved the way for me to be educated and well-off. It’s a story that echoes that of many Singaporeans, and also of the nation itself.

My aunt, Manjit Kaur, was born there in pre-independence Singapore. “It was a hard life. There was no water, no healthy water,” she says. “We lived a simple life, our neighbours were simple. We looked after each other and we had the same goal: to survive.”

In 1959, Britain took the first steps toward granting independence by allowing Singapore to govern itself.

The charismatic Lee Kuan Yew, from the People’s Action Party, won a landslide victory in the first fully elected parliament.

Manjit remembers the family attended a political rally, despite not speaking the language. “We didn’t understand a word, but I think whatever he was saying must have been quite important because everyone was paying attention.

They clapped every time he would say something. When they clapped, we clapped,” she recalls.

This was a revelation to me: I had no idea my grandfather had had any interest in politics.

In Aug 1963, Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia. It was made up of four countries and territories: Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore.

Building Networks Connecting Business Creating Opportunities

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Manjit remembers celebrating the union at school. “We started learning a song that went something like “Let’s Get Together / Sing a Happy Song / Malaysia Forever.”

But it wasn’t forever. The members of the federation disagreed on fundamental issues, such as who should control the finances of Singapore. Racial tensions led to riots between Singaporean Chinese and Malay groups.

In 1965, Singapore was forced to leave the Malaysian Federation. Manjit remembers seeing the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, cry during an interview: “We went to our neighbours house to watch TV and we saw him crying and we didn’t know why.”

It was a traumatic beginning to independence. Many believed Singapore could not survive on its own. But with huge hopes for the future, Singapore began to build the infrastructure that would transform the city.

Special Feature: Singapore at 50

My grandfather sold his plot of land to the government in the 1960s and moved into a HDB, or Housing & Development Board, flat, thousands of which were sprouting up all over the island. It was an affordable way for Singaporeans to buy property and raise their standard of living.

“We had a huge task when we first started in 1960. At that time, our population size was 1.6 million, out of that, 1.3 million lived in squatters, not counting the thousands of others living in slum areas and old buildings,” recalls Liu Thai Ker, who was known as Singapore’s ‘master planner’ in the 1970s and ’80s.

The new HDB towns that Liu oversaw came with their own schools, shops and clinics. The high-rise buildings introduced many Singaporeans to the miracles of flush toilets and clean water at the turn of a tap.

By 1985, in just one generation, Liu says, the HDB was so successful in its rehousing policy that Singapore could claim to have

“no homeless, no squatters, no poverty ghettos, and no ethnic enclaves.”

But the housing policy was not just about bricks and mortar—it was also about nation building. Each HDB flat would have a quota system that encouraged a mix of different races. “The whole idea was to have the Chinese not thinking that they were Chinese, or the Malays thinking they were Malay, or Indians thinking they were Indian. We want them to think as Singaporeans,” says Liu. Nation building also took the form of campaigns to instil more courtesy, prevent spitting in public, or stop creating ‘killer litter’—rubbish thrown out of high-rise flats that could kill people below. These campaigns dominated the airwaves, schools and billboards of the nation.

The government sought to regulate the behaviour of its people, and I was not immune. As a child attending a Singaporean primary school, I won the

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

title of ‘most courteous student’ in class several times. My reward was a ‘Singa the Lion’ eraser or ruler. He was the country’s courtesy mascot for years.

Some of the campaigns were arguably too successful, such as the ‘Stop at Two’ campaign, aimed at limiting population growth in the 1960s and ’70s. When it became evident that Singapore’s population wasn’t being replaced in the 1980s, it was too late. Singapore now has one of the lowest birth rates in Asia, which the government is seeking to offset through immigration. For a population to remain stable, each family needs to have 2.1 children. In Singapore, the average is 1.3 or below.

Such campaigns were more than just slogans—they had policies to back them up. Third children were penalised with fewer subsidies and limited school choices.

By the 1980s, many of Singapore’s early problems had been solved. Unemployment

was no longer a worry, crime rates were low, and the population compliant.

But at what price? The measures the government took to maintain the status quo are seen by many as controlling and restrictive.

The penal system is tough, and the death penalty is enforced, mostly for drug offences. It is estimated that around 400 people have been hanged since 1991. Singapore has been described as “Disneyland with the death penalty.”

Goh Chok Tong, who was Singapore’s prime minister from 1990 to 2004, and who is now Emeritus Senior Minister, takes issue with that description.

“First of all, Singapore is not Disneyland; it’s a very serious place. As for the death penalty, because of our proximity to the drug triangle, if we’re too lax in the control of drug trafficking, Singaporeans are going to suffer. So it’s a difficult decision, but we have to defend our position on that,” he says.

Singapore’s media environment is highly controlled. The nation currently ranks in the bottom 15% of 180 countries in an index assessing press freedoms compiled

by Reporters Without Borders.

Singaporeans with an alternative view on political matters have now turned to the Internet. Ariffin Sha, a 17-year-old blogger, says the Internet is the game changer, dispelling the fears Singaporeans used to harbour over speaking out.

“I believe there was a climate of fear in Singapore, and I don’t blame them.

Dissent was clearly not tolerated. Times have changed now. With the Internet, it’s hard to control,” says Sha. At Speaker’s Corner, the only officially sanctioned area of protest, 500 people might hear him speak, whereas he has an audience of thousands on YouTube.

The arts battle censorship, too. Playwrights have to submit scripts to Singapore’s Media Development Authority, which may

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insist on changing lines or put an advisory on the play. “When we first started working in the 1980s, we had to submit scripts to the police,” recalls Haresh Sharma, a prominent name in Singapore’s theatre community. “Now it’s a bit more sophisticated. They might give you a rating but then people are free to choose.”

Goh says there are certain areas in the media where control will continue to be exercised: “Religion, race… if you touch on sensitive issues, there will be violent reactions, so those are no-nos. The government has to make sure people don’t infringe on these.”

After years of rapid growth and currently ranked the most expensive city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore faces new challenges. The gap between rich and poor is among the widest in the developed world. Estimates from social researchers suggest that about 10–15% of the population live in the lowincome bracket or less than US$1,100 (£700) a month.

Special Feature: Singapore at 50

If my grandfather arrived today with only the shirt on his back, how would he fare?

He might not be as welcome. Foreigners now make up 40% of the population, and the huge rise in their numbers in the last decade has sparked fears that the Singaporean identity is being diluted.

Jim Rogers is a businessman who moved to Singapore at a time when it was eager to attract well-qualified foreigners. He’s aware of the backlash. “You’ll hear people talking about the foreigners, and I say, ‘Wait a minute. You’re second generation; your parents came here.’ And they’ll say, ‘Yeah, but it was different. My parents were different to these new immigrants who are coming here now.’”

The government has responded with stricter rules limiting the influx of immigrants, but Rogers hopes they remember Singapore’s success was built on them.

At the same time, people are leaving.

The high cost of living and the search

About the Author: Sharanjit Leyl delighted viewers in the nearly hour-long documentary, Singapore at 50, which aired in late February as part of ‘The Richer World’ season on BBC World News.

The documentary was re-broadcast with updates (including the passing of Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew) ahead of Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence celebrations in early August.

In it, she undergoes a personal journey, tracing her grandfather’s route to the city and her extended family’s life as Singaporeans experiencing its rapid development from a third-world country to first.

The story above is re-produced from BBC.com’s magazine published in February.

for a better work-life balance has led many to move away. In a 2012 survey, 56% of the 2,000-odd Singaporeans surveyed said they would migrate if given a choice.

This, too, is reflected in my own family.

My two brothers and their children now live in the US, and my mother joined them there after my father passed away.

The majority of my grandfather’s huge family, captured in a photograph in 1970, no longer live in Singapore. Only three of his 15 grandchildren still do. I chose to return after many years away in the US, Canada and Japan. What made me come back? The same reasons my grandfather came: opportunity.

Where my grandfather’s leafy family home once stood, there is now a big grey industrial complex. But growing up in a country where things are constantly changing, you don’t expect things to last. There is always a steadfast march towards progress.

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In Focus

In Focus: Andrew Bunn Emirate’s Country Manager of its markets in Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia shares with Vipanchi the latest trends in the aviation industry.

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

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What challenges is the aviation industry facing today?

More people are travelling now than ever before, which has resulted in many different types of traveller profiles seeking different types of travel styles. The one-size-fits-all norm no longer applies. Meanwhile, the skies are getting crowded, and some governments have been pressured by airlines to maintain domestic interests. Hence, the challenge is two-fold: to keep up with the new generation of travellers, and to stay ahead in a fast-growing global industry that’s still quite restricted by aero-politics in many aspects.

Oil prices have gone down and this has helped the industry. How long do you think this will last?

Oil prices have been falling since last year.

Given that fuel accounts for a substantial

In Focus: Andrew Bunn, Emirates

portion of the overall cost structure in many industries, lower oil prices have been a boon for airlines as well. It would be rather impossible to accurately predict the fluctuation in oil prices, given that there are so many factors affecting fuel demand and supply.

For example, passengers can redeem their Skywards miles (our frequent flier programme) on Jetstar and fly to destinations not serviced by Emirates, thus giving our passengers more options.

Singapore has a robust tourist footfall.

Increasing competition between regular and budget airlines has had a significant impact. How is the industry coping?

Travel is a robust industry and global demand for international travel continues to grow among both corporate and leisure travellers. If there’s a particular trend I would identify, it would be connectivity. Twenty-first-century travellers want to remain ‘always-on,’ staying connected to people as they connect to places. Airlines need to constantly innovate, to look at how they can provide a more integrated and seamless point-to-point travel experience.

Singapore has an enviable geographic location and strong infrastructure, particularly in terms of its airport facilities.

This naturally encourages high volumes of transit traffic, which actually allows budget airlines and full service carriers to work together, feeding each other’s networks and working in ways that are complementary.

What is the outlook for the industry in Q4 2015 and early 2016?

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Digitisation is being adopted by many companies. How is Emirates’ experience in this area?

Earlier this year, we became the first carrier in the Middle East and Africa to launch an app for the new Apple technology: the Emirates app for Apple Watch.

In today’s connected world, technology plays an increasingly important role in the overall travel experiences of all passengers.

Most of our flights are equipped with Wi-fi, offering passengers the first 10MBs of data for free—that’s sufficient for most travellers to check their social media accounts and remain connected as they fly.

Earlier this year, we became the first carrier in the Middle East and Africa to launch an app for the new Apple technology: the Emirates app for Apple Watch. Passengers with an Apple Watch and the Emirates app installed on their iPhone will be able to review their list of upcoming trips, gain

access to real-time flight information— including terminal, gate number, flight status, baggage collection details—and get timely notifications should changes in, say, gate number or baggage belt should occur.

What are your views on the Internet of Things and its impact on the airline industry?

No doubt, the Internet has had a very positive impact. Personally I’m huge fan of the opportunities this has created for our industry. It has brought a whole new dimension to travel and travel planning.

Sites such as TripAdvisor have become a recognised part of the travel landscape and help to shape people’s decisions. Also, social media in general, while bringing certain challenges, has also increased education about travel and places,

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and broadened our minds, resulting in demand for more destinations and service levels. There’s no doubt the Internet has contributed to growth in air travel.

Describe your Emirates experience thus far.

Emirates is a truly international, dynamic and fast-paced organisation, always looking for new growth opportunities, improving customer choice, expanding our network and developing products. We take a lead role in aviation, and everyone is encouraged to participate at all levels. It is an exciting place to be.

A lot of companies are embracing diversity. Give us some insight into your diversity agenda and policies for Emirates.

As an international company on a growth path, we offer plenty of opportunities for people all over the world. The talent we have in Emirates is not bound by geography

In Focus: Andrew Bunn, Emirates

or nationality, and this is underlined by the fact that the airline has hired staff from more than 160 different nations. Diversity is our strength; the people who work in Emirates bring new ideas and thinking.

This has shaped the airline’s success.

support the principles of Singapore’s Fair Consideration Framework—where Singaporeans are the first-choice hires, all things being equal—it should also be borne in mind that we are operating in a tight labour market.

What challenges do you see in attracting and retaining talent? How has Singapore’s Fair Consideration Framework affected you?

Singapore currently has many major infrastructure projects in progress, including a fourth passenger terminal (soon to be followed by fifth), the Project Jewel development, as well as the third runway development at Changi Airport.

Huge volumes of manpower will be required to staff these facilities, much of which will inevitably have to come from neighbouring countries. We have seen during the recent SG50 celebrations what a proud nation Singapore is.

Going forward, we should all look to play our part in the continued development of Singapore, whether we are Singaporeans or visitors with a vested interest in Singapore’s long-term goals.

We are in a good place, as the Emirates brand and our strong reputation continue to attract talented people from around the world, including Singapore. In fact we currently have 277 Singaporeans working for us in various fields across the company. The challenge is keeping people fresh and motivated, and giving them opportunities for career development.

In Singapore, even when the economy is somewhat muted, there are still a lot of jobs out there, so retaining talent is high on every manager’s agenda. While I completely

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It’s been a while since the EmiratesQantas merger. How has this worked out for the two airlines?

Our partnership with Qantas has helped both airlines open up an extensive network to customers, and provide them with a seamless travel experience. Emirates’ customers have one-stop access to most parts of the combined Qantas-Emirates networks; Emirates gains access to around 50 points in Australia through Qantas’ domestic network; Qantas connects onto Emirates flights to more than 70 destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The partnership has been doing really well, and our customers are leveraging Qantas’ domestic network. There is also strong demand on the Dubai-Australia route that we hope to continue to grow.

What does the future hold for Emirates? What can consumers look forward to?

We recently announced the addition of our second daily A380 flight to Singapore, effective 1 Mar 2016. The service will complement our sixth daily A380 service to Australia with the up-gauge of the current service between Dubai and Melbourne via Singapore. EK404 and EK405’s existing Boeing 777—300ER aircraft will be replaced

by Emirates flagship A380 aircraft, and the up-gauge will offer more customer options, additional seat capacity, and another seamless A380 connection option when travelling from Singapore to Europe and Middle East destinations via Dubai.

Apart from greater comfort and choice, as the world becomes increasingly globalised, customers can also look forward to greater connectivity. We are launching new routes, including services to Mashhad, Orlando, Bamako and Bologna, which will allow customers the choice to fly with us to these destinations, be it for business or leisure.

We will continue to bring our passengers superior flight experience, leveraging our global network, partnerships and technology to make air travel more convenient, more comfortable, more customised, and more of an experience to enjoy.

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Feature

Singapore: An Economy in Transition

By Lester Gunnion Measures to curb the inflow of low-skilled foreign workers could lead to near-term challenges, but in the long term, these measures will help Singapore remain one of the world’s most competitive nations.

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ingapore has made a stronger start to the year than was initially estimated. Economic activity gathered pace in Q1 2015, and the economy is on track to achieve the target growth range of 2.0–4.0% this year. 2015 is of particular significance to the city-state, as it marks 50 years of its existence as an independent nation, as well as the halfway point of a 10-year economic restructuring plan launched in 2010.

The plan focuses on increasing productivity in the economy and on moving up the value chain across all sectors, thereby setting the stage for strong and sustainable growth in the long term. The 10-year plan also aims to curb the inflow of low-skilled foreign workers, while trying to improve social welfare for Singapore’s citizens. Consequently,

sectors that have depended on low-skilled foreign workers are likely to face nearterm challenges. Complicating matters is the unevenness in the global economic recovery. However, over the long term, current policies are likely to support Singapore’s focus on high-value addition, thereby helping it remain one of the world’s most competitive nations.

GDP growth on its way up in Q1 2015 Singapore’s economy grew 2.6% yearover-year in Q1 2015, up from 2.1% in Q4 2014, faster than the advance estimate of 2.1%. The economy gained from strong contributions by two key sectors in Q1—finance and insurance (7.9%) and wholesale and retail trade (4.1%). While the former contributed 0.9% to GDP growth in Q1, the latter’s contribution was 0.7%. Within finance

and insurance, banking was the dominant sector, thanks to factors such as growth in loans and gains from higher net interest margins. Consumer loans (up by 4.6%) contributed most to the growth in loans, while loans to businesses remained subdued (0.8%).

For the wholesale and retail trade sector, strong growth in Q1 was a welcome relief from the previous quarter’s meek 0.6% rise. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore, wholesale trade benefited from a 5.2% rise in non-oil re-exports in Q1, up from 1.8% in the previous quarter.

There was, however, some disappointment in Q1 from manufacturing, which was dragged down by declines in output in the transport, engineering, electronics,

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and biomedical clusters. Manufacturing contracted by 2.7%, thereby shaving off 0.5% from GDP growth in Q1. This follows a 1.3% decline in Q4 2014.

Immigration policy burdens manufacturers

An important factor burdening Singapore’s manufacturers is the upward pressure on wages. Overall unit labour cost in the country climbed 5.3% year-over-year in Q1. The unit labour cost of manufacturing increased by 7.2% in Q1, up from 5.5% in the previous quarter. Consequently, the overall unit business cost of manufacturing edged up in Q1, rising by 0.9% and continuing from a 0.7% increase in 2014.

The rise in cost of manufacturing is closely linked to the administration’s policy on foreign workers. The quota

At present, the attempt to shift from labour-intensive to skill- and knowledgeintensive manufacturing has affected output growth, not least because of an already tight labour market.

and levy system used to regulate the size of the foreign workforce has been tightened in recent years to discourage firms from hiring low-skilled, low-wage foreign workers. The measures are aimed at boosting employment, wages, and productivity among citizens while restructuring all sectors toward high-value economic activity.

However, this transition is likely to be painful in the near term as Singapore has so far relied heavily on foreign labour, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing, where up to half the workforce comprises foreigners.

From 2003–2008, when the foreign worker policy was liberalised, manufacturing firms substituted lowskilled foreign workers for machinery, stifling productivity growth in the sector.

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In Focus: Singapore: An Economy in Transition

Figure 1. GDP growth (percent, year-over-year) slowed down in Q1 2015

At present, the attempt to shift from labour-intensive to skill- and knowledgeintensive manufacturing has affected output growth, not least because of an already tight labour market.

14.0 10.5 7.0

Tight labour market and muted growth in productivity

3.5 0.0 -3.5 -7.0

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Q4 2012

Q3 2013

Q2 2014

GDP

Manufacturing

Construction

Services

Financial services*

Wholesale and retail trade*

Q1 2015

* These sub-sectors are part of the wider services sector.

Source: Haver Analytics; Deloitte Services LP economic analysis.

Graphic: Deloitte University Press

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Figure 2. Manufacturing activity has been suffering of late 52.0

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51.5 10

51.0 50.5

5

50.0 0

49.5 49.0

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48.5 48.0

Jan 2014

Apr 2014

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Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 indicates contraction) Source: Haver Analytics; Deloitte Services LP economic analysis.

Oct 2014

-10 Apr 2015

Jan 2015

Growth in industrial production (present, year-over year, right axis) Graphic: Deloitte University Press

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Singapore’s already tight labour market is tightening further. Unemployment dipped to 1.8% in Q1 from 1.9% in the previous quarter. Employment growth has slowed and labour force participation has been edging up steadily over the last three years, standing at 67.0% as of 2014.

It is not surprising, then, that the curb on low-skilled foreign labour has resulted in labour shortages and higher business costs, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing. Additionally, while wages have been moving up, labour productivity has not kept pace; in fact, it declined in both goods-producing as well as services industries. In Q1, total labour productivity declined (by 0.6%) for the fourth straight quarter.

Declines in labour productivity bring to light the fact that restricting inflows of low-skilled and low-wage foreign labour is not enough. Encouragingly, the government has announced the introduction of the SkillsFuture initiative in the budget for 2015. The initiative focuses on lifelong learning and skill development. Toward this end, the average spending on continual education and training is set to double over the next five years. Furthermore, the government has deferred the increase in levies on the employment of low-skilled foreign workers by one year for all sectors, and by two years for the manufacturing sector.

Facing an uneven global recovery

Singapore’s total services trade edged up by 1.2% in Q1 from a year ago, but total merchandise trade dipped by 10.5% during the same period. Merchandise imports fell by 16.1%, while merchandise exports dropped 5.4% on account of low oil prices. However, the country’s

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Figure 3. Declining labot productivity is a worry 10 8

Change in labor productivity (percent, year-over-year)

6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10

Q1 2012

Q4 2012 Manufacturing

Source: Haver Analytics; Deloitte Services LP economic analysis.

non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew by 4.8% in Q1, speeding up from a lackluster 0.5% in Q4 2014. The electronics and non-electronic goods segment fared well in Q1. Notably, there was strong growth in exports to the United States (10.2%) and the European Union (22.2%) in Q1 after a decline in the previous quarter.

However, slowing economic growth in China, Singapore’s largest trading partner, is a concern for the city-state’s exporters. In Q1, exports to China fell 5.6%, deteriorating from a decline of 4.9% in Q4 2014. Given the supply chain links between the West, China, and other key Asian exporters, it was not surprising that Singapore’s trade performance with regional partners was mixed in Q1. While exports to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea grew during the quarter, exports to Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan declined.

Q3 2013 Construction

Q2 2014 Services Graphic: Deloitte University Press

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Risks to Singapore’s exports and, hence, GDP growth, are not likely to go away any time soon given that global growth continues to be uneven.

China’s economy is likely to remain under pressure this year, and weakness in the Eurozone is expected to continue. Growth in the United States, however, is likely to rebound in the second half of the year after a weak first quarter. According to International Enterprise Singapore, non-oil domestic exports will grow 1.0–3.0% in 2015.

This is encouraging, given that NODX contracted by 0.7% in 2014 and by 6.0% in 2013. Nevertheless, expectations of export growth are modest at best.

Still a long road ahead

In the short term, given the betterthan-anticipated performance in Q1, Singapore is likely to achieve its target growth range. However, for growth to

About the Author Lester Gunnion is an economist and a senior analyst at Deloitte Research, Deloitte Services LP. This article originally appeared in Asia Pacific Economic Outlook, Q3 2015, Deloitte University Press. Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.

Reprinted by permission.

Q1 2015

continue in the long term, the country will have to continue on the track of economic restructuring with a focus on high-value addition and improvement in productivity. The latter assumes importance in the context of Singapore’s aging population, dependence on foreign workers, and tight labour market.

Far-reaching policy measures such as the SkillsFuture initiative are likely to play a critical role in determining the long-term performance of the economy.

The administration must remain focused on implementing such policies in order to build a highly skilled, knowledgedriven workforce, particularly in the clusters identified for future growth.

Given that the country is one of the richest economies in the world, the current path is likely to help Singapore retain its competitiveness in the global economic arena.

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Feature

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Sir Martin Sorrell Interviews eCommerce Giant Jack Ma

By Sir Martin Sorrell WPP’s Chief Executive Officer is impressed by the ambition of China’s rock star entrepreneur.

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f I had to reduce those changes to a single phrase, it would be ‘geography and technology’. Thirty years ago China’s GDP was about $300 billion; today it’s more than $10 trillion. Thirty years ago, Tim Berners-Lee had yet to invent the World Wide Web; today Google is arguably the most valuable brand in the world.

The West is still in denial about the rising power of the so-called emerging economies (an outmoded expression, since the biggest have not only emerged, but left more mature markets trailing in their wake).

There is deep complacency and condescension in the Western view of Chinese technology firms. “All they do is copy and steal” is the fashionable thing to say. That, by the way, is what we said about Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

My experience is that many Chinese CEOs understand digital technology better than we do.

Many seem to want China to fail, which is the definition of shooting yourself in the foot, because the global economy needs it to succeed. Others point to slowing growth of “only”7%.

A few weeks ago, I attended the GREAT Festival of Creativity in Shanghai, put on by the UK Government to showcase British creative businesses to the Chinese market. As part of the event, I did my poor man’s impression of Charlie Rose and interviewed Jack Ma, the founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba, the eCommerce juggernaut with a market capitalisation of more than $200 billion.

I remain an unabashed Chinese bull. It’s now our third biggest market after the US and UK, with revenues of more than $1.5 billion and some 15,000 people.

Ma is a rock star in China (and becoming one everywhere else, too). At the end of the session, a large group of admirers from the audience rushed up the stage.

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Feature: Sir Martin Sorrell Interviews eCommerce Giant Jack Ma Credit: Aryma.co.uk

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HRH Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, attends the opening of GREAT Festival of Creativity

If I’d been in any doubt as to the object of their interest, it didn’t last long, as I was unceremoniously bundled out of the way by the mob.

Alibaba’s aim is simple, and jaw-droppingly ambitious. It is, as Ma puts it, “to be the infrastructure of commerce in China.” Its focus is on small businesses, helping them to sell through its Taobao marketplace, providing financial services through Alipay, and offering logistical support through its cloud computing and data platform.

The received wisdom is that Chinese companies can’t and don’t want to expand internationally. Not so.“We’re an Internet company that happens to be in China,” says Ma. “Our vision is to help small businesses globally.”

Although less than 5% of the company’s revenues currently come from international markets, Ma wants it to be 50%. He says Europe will be first, followed by Japan, Korea, India and Indonesia. Xiaomi, the four-year-old, $45-billion-valued Chinese smartphone and over-the-top TV box maker

has similar geographical ambitions: India, Indonesia and Brazil.

Ma has looked at the US market, but concluded that it’s too difficult—at least in the short-term. “Everyone expects us to go to America… We want to go to America and help American farmers, American small businesses, helping them to sell to China [but] I personally think we can do a lot more in Europe than in America.”

Nonetheless, Alibaba has established a foothold in the States through a series of investments in start-ups, including video chat firm Tango and car-sharing company Lyft. As of March, it also has a data centre (in Silicon Valley) to attract new cloud computing customers.

Ma says the start-up stakes—through a dedicated investments operation in San Francisco—are “contributions” intended “to give thanks” to American tech innovation. But with bets like the rumoured $200 million in Snapchat reported last month, it’s fair to assume the motive is not entirely altruistic.

While highly respectful of US tech leaders, Ma doesn’t pull his punches when talking about the competition. Amazon “was a good model in 1990-something;” eBay “ran away.”

Answering the accusation of copying, he says China is adding value to global technology, but it’s “only just started.”

He chastises anyone within his own company who complains that others have stolen their technology: “It means we’re not fast enough. We’re not innovative enough. The losers say ‘they steal.’

The winners say ‘I run faster.’”

Many in the West choose to characterise Chinese companies as a threat, which, in some respects, they are—just as any disruptor is to an incumbent. In our own line of business, Blue Focus, the Shenzhen-listed firm founded by Oscar Zhao in 1996, has high hopes of global expansion. Rather than worrying about invaders from the East, however, a more constructive approach would be to learn from entrepreneurs such as Jack Ma, and start taking a few risks.

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Credit: popsugar.com

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Georgia May Jagger launches British Airways GREAT aircraft in style

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HRH Prince Willam speaks at the GREAT Festival in Shanghai

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An interactive installation by Britsh Airways

The greatest threat to long-term global economic development is the prevailing culture of chronic risk aversion among corporates. Too many are focused on their boots instead of the horizon, minutely managing costs while failing to invest sufficiently in top-line growth.

The global cash pile, sitting uninvested on balance sheets, has reached mountainous proportions.

to be the name of the game across all sectors, from food and beverages to construction, pharmaceuticals and media.

Growth is sluggish, inflation is at an all-time low and brands have no pricing power. Little surprise, then, that consolidation continues

Consolidation is not limited to client companies or media owners. Among our competitors in marketing services,

The Heinz-Kraft merger, for example, appears to be cost- rather than revenuedriven, at least in the short- to mediumterm: good news for the finance and procurement departments, less so for marketing and product development.

About the Author: Sir Martin Sorrell joined WPP in 1986 as a director, becoming Group chief executive in the same year. Ogilvy is a part of the WPP group. In 1997, he was appointed an Ambassador for British Business by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and subsequently appointed to the Office’s Panel 2000 aimed at rebranding Britain

abroad. In 1999 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to serve on the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership. He is a non-executive director of Formula One and Alcoa Inc. This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph and ogilvydo.com

the smaller groups such as IPG are those under the most immediate threat of being swallowed up (perhaps by Dentsu, if the collapse in their overseas margins since buying Aegis hasn’t spoilt their appetite).

One thing that hasn’t changed in the last three decades is this industry’s infinite capacity to surprise. Even so, tie-ups between the leading players seem unlikely for now. Recent history has shown that, whatever the problems facing each party, so-called mergers of equals are not the most elegant solution.

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Feature

What is Content Marketing? Is it Just More Hype?

By Andrea Edwards What is content marketing, and why should businesses embrace it?

A leading practitioner and true believer shares her view.

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here is a frenzy going on right now, one that’s centred on content marketing. Have you noticed it? It’s very noisy, so you couldn’t have missed it.

However, one of my greatest concerns right now is that the din is causing utter confusion.

I recently hosted discussions at a content marketing event in Singapore, and all the people I met said they had one priority: “creating more content.” I reeled back from this because the focus shouldn’t be on more content; it should be on great content. Alas, I believe we are all about to be inundated, and we need to fix this before the deluge starts.

Why content marketing?

When deciding whether your business needs to embrace content marketing— and it does!—it’s imperative to understand why it exists in the first place. If you can understand this, you will knock it out of the park with content. Content marketing exists because how your customer researches and buys has changed, and this is inclusive of B2C and B2B. In fact, your potential customers are likely to be 90% of the way through your sales cycle

before they even come to you. Where are they? Consulting peers, searching the Internet for options, being interrupted by amazing content, and—most fundamentally— getting advice through their social media connections. This is the fundamental shift that has occurred, and it is precisely why businesses must market themselves in a new way. Customers have moved beyond brands, so you need to be where they are.

But it’s not just that.

While your potential customers are making decisions and being influenced beyond your brand, they are also being entertained.

From the antics of the Kardashians, One Direction, Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus to the latest K-Pop, J-Pop and Korean soap operas to that cute baby/puppy/kitten video their friend has just posted, people are online for many reasons.

The goal of content marketing is to earn the right to your customer’s time within the mix of how they are consuming information online. Being awesome at this is the game changer for businesses today.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is about creating

amazing information that helps your customers to: • improve skills • be better informed • do something different • understand professional opportunities • align new ideas to their business • be healthier • be more effective at work • be more aware of issues • be empowered, and more Today you need to focus on creating this type of information, but it must still be aligned to your brand.

Businesses must think of themselves as publishing houses for their customers.

By that, I mean you need to understand who your customer is, what they care about, their priorities and their fears, then align the content you create and curate to the whole customer profile. This is about being truly customer-obsessed.

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As an example, if you provide enterprise cloud services, you wouldn’t be creating content on holiday destinations or fashion, would you? What you would do is create information that helps your customers make sense of the cloud: tips and tricks to migrate your business to the cloud; how to integrate legacy applications with new applications in the cloud; how to get buy-in across the enterprise to migrate to the cloud; public, private or hybrid cloud—the good, the bad, the ugly; top 10 benefits of cloud; and so on. You are not talking about your business; instead, you are answering questions your customers are asking, or should be asking, about enterprise cloud services.

Some examples of brands doing awesome content marketing that I admire include: • IQ by Intel • Starbucks • SAP Digital Magazine, Digitalist • Microsoft Stories

• • • • •

L’Oreal Makeup.com GoPro Redbull American Express for Small Business The Big Four Consulting firms and McKinsey • General Electric

It’s important to note that content marketing is not talking about your business, products or services. That is marketing—still critical, but a different thing.

Why would you do it?

If you share knowledge with your customers, they will—in return for providing high-value information—show their appreciation and buy from you. That is how it works; the ROI is real. But it requires commitment, patience and a completely different mind-set across your business to truly embrace it.

That is the next challenge businesses face today. Because content marketing is

more of a philosophy than a tactic, it’s not something the marketing team can do in isolation. Marketing is obviously critical to drive a change in mind-set across the organisation. But to truly succeed, content marketing needs everyone on board, from the entire C-suite to the rank-and-file workers across all functions.

Breaking it down

A recent article, Quick Quiz: Where are you in the Content Marketing Journey?, featured on OPEN for BUSINESS!, defines the phases of content marketing: • Phase 0 – Content Marketing?

What’s that?

• Phase 1 – We have a corporate blog and branded social accounts • Phase 2 – We have a companybranded blog, with a good mix of outside contributors

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• Phase 3 – We leverage employees by using software to pass targeted marketing content to their social networks • Phase 4 – We help nearly all our employees create content in their own voice and then feature their insights on our site, demonstrating their expertise as a way to incorporate their personal brands with our corporate brand I believe there is a fifth phase: • Phase 5 – The entire business ecosystem—customers, partners, influencers, associations, employee connections, and so on—come together to create a content platform of power for the entire community.

This platform embraces all, promotes all, and creates a powerhouse storytelling platform that builds the success and credibility of everyone in this ecosystem.

Right now, to stand out from the crowd, businesses must look at Phase 4. Phase 5

Feature: What is Content Marketing?

Is it Just More Hype?

is coming, but it’s more complex and may take longer to embed, although there are some easy ways to start moving into it.

Today, Phase 4 is a great place to start, and it’s so much better for your business than Phase 3, which is the act of distributing pre-packaged marketing content to your employees to share on their social media profiles.

The issue is that Phase 3 content doesn’t enable employees to shine—it’s not content marketing; it’s marketing. To help your employees embrace your brand, you must share amazing stories that allows them to look remarkable. These stories ideas can include: • The good your business/employees are doing in the world • Your diversity programmes and successes • What you’re doing for the environment • The charities you're involved in • How you’re changing the lives of your customers (case studies with real meaning) • ‘How to’ content that’s aligned to your brand

Share more than your company’s content

To start moving into Phase 5, share great stories from your customers, partners, the media and influencers.

If you can make this information accessible to your employees, they will be empowered to share a wellrounded perspective of their industry, thus they can present an intelligent face to their communities. You must focus on empowering your employees to be advocates for themselves first; by default, they will be advocates for your business.

Delivering a diverse mix of great stories not only shows that we respect the dignity of the people who work for us, it helps them build their personal brands and empowers them to represent themselves in the best possible light on their social platforms. At the same time, our businesses benefit. This is a big shift and a fundamental cultural change, which is why it has to start at the top— the CEO must lead this transformation.

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If CEOs embrace this concept, they are demonstrating a commitment to it, which inspires everyone else to join.

However, to be truly powerful, every level of employee must buy into the idea. That’s when the magic happens.

Companies that only focus on the senior leadership are missing the point.

Consider these numbers: The majority of people on social media have more than 500 connections each on average. If you have 1,000 employees sharing great information on social media beyond your brand assets, this increases your opportunity of exposure to 500,000 potential customers. If you have 10,000 employees, that number is five million!

This is vital because • 15% of people trust recommendations from brands • 84% trust recommendations from people they know Reference: We Are Social Media (http:// wersm.com/5-stats-that-prove-employeeadvocacy-is-crucial/) Therefore, your employees are a more powerful force of influence than any other marketing or lead generation activity you do. It is a resource you must harness today.

Quality, not quantity

For any of this to succeed, the most important part is the content. In an article, Content That Drives Decisions, featured on CMO.com, Tim Riesterer says: “Sixty-five percent: that’s the amount of sales content going unused by salespeople, according to SiriusDecisions. Is that a problem? You bet it is. But it may not be the biggest content-related challenge you, as marketers, are up against. While much of the focus centres on that 65% figure—

and on the notion that companies are wasting major resources producing unfindable or unusable content— the bigger problem may actually lie in the 35% of content that actually is being used.”

I believe Tim is correct. While the 65% is a major problem (and waste of money), the 35% is much more of an issue to me as a content marketing professional.

If the content isn’t good, it’s not going to add value to your business, and your employees will not get behind you.

Quite simply, if the content is about your business, products or services, you stand a very real chance of boring your audience. Get it wrong once, they may forgive you. Keep getting it wrong and your customers will not come back.

Competing with the Kardashians

If you are not creating awe-inspiring content intended to get your customers’ attention, then you’re don’t get the most important fact of all: all businesses are competing for attention with the Kardashians today!

Seriously, are your stories strong enough to pull your customers away from whatever is distracting them right now?

Examine your own online behaviour and this question will not sound so farfetched. How do you spend your time online? What do you consume? What turns you off?

What about the community around you?

How are they consuming information?

Are they visual? Do they prefer to read, watch videos, or listen to podcasts?

What about business information, the sort that helps you make decisions?

What does that look like? You need to apply this same learning to your customers.

About the Author Andrea Edwards is a globally awardwinning communications professional and Head of Content Marketing and Training at Novus Asia, an innovative Singapore-based content and brand publishing agency that strategises, creates and curates content across all platforms, from books and

magazines to websites and applications that are tablet-, mobile- and social platform-ready. Novus also trains the C-suite and business executives to shift mind-sets and harness the power and opportunity personal branding and content marketing delivers to businesses today.

Brand advocacy a la Amazon

In the recent media furore surrounding The New York Times’ exposé of the work culture at Amazon, the most powerful voices came from the staff. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tried to calm things down, but it was his employees taking a stand to deny the allegations and accusations that had the most power.

Their actions were not endorsed by management, yet they did it because it was the right thing to do. It was a fascinating example of employee brand advocacy for our time. So it’s not only your customers who are outside your brand’s sphere of influence—your employees have a voice beyond your business as well. This must be encouraged, and businesses should loosen the reins on that voice.

Employees want to speak. They want to have a profile. They want to represent the brand they work for. Therefore, support the people you are proud to have employed by giving them a role in your content ecosystem. Train and inspire them to be awesome on social media, and supply them with amazing content to share with their contacts. If you do, you will elevate your business to new heights.

So, to answer the question asked at the very beginning of this article, content marketing is not hype. There is definitely a lot of hype around content marketing, but if you get it right, understand that it’s a deep philosophical and cultural change your business needs to make, and embrace your entire business ecosystem into your storytelling platform, then you will outshine your competition and fundamentally transform your business from its core.

NOVUS CONTENT. DI G I TAL. PUBLI SH ING.

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Feature

Engaging Employees Overseas: Avoiding the Pitfalls

By Johanna Johnson Here’s a 10-point guide from a cross-border employment law specialist.

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multinational software company is looking to set-up a customer service centre in the Philippines.

It has identified a trusted employee from its US operations to lead the new service centre, but it will also need to make a number of local hires and have employees from the regional headquarters in Singapore support the new service centre.

2. Retain key documents

Of all the decisions a developing business takes, expanding overseas can be one of the most important. Get it right and the rewards can be great. Get it wrong and it can prove to be a costly lesson in what to do differently next time. Employment issues often carry the highest risk both in terms of potential compensation costs and operational problems caused by the loss of a key individual.

3. Plan ahead

Fortunately, through good planning and seeking early guidance from advisers with experience in this area, most of the problems can be avoided. Below are 10 practical tips a business should consider when employing someone in the Asia Pacific region.

1. Start at the end

Ironically, to get things right at the start of an international working relationship, you should wind forward to picture the end. Think about the issues and problems that might arise on a termination when appointing someone, especially when that person is to head up your business in the country in question. For example, know what is involved in removing any directorships, bank mandates and powers of attorney you might want to grant your new country manager before you bestow them on the individual. Work out your action plan in the event of an acrimonious parting of ways later. Avoid having single directors if possible, and consider using your head office-based executives as directors of the overseas subsidiary as an alternative to an untested new recruit, at least initially.

Keep copies of all important documents in your head office including employment contracts, payroll records, job specifications, stock schemes and leases. Asking the local director you are proposing to fire for a copy of his employment contract is not considered good form!

Record important dates such as lease renewals, equity vest dates and immigration deadlines. These may be useful for later.

4. Beware local laws

It is vital to obtain an overview of employment law in the country in question. We provide our clients with a country guide, setting out key points of local law that they should know, and work with them to ensure there is an employment contract compliant with local laws. Do not simply use an existing employment contract from one jurisdiction for a new hire in a different country. Doing so can have seriously adverse consequences. For example, it may seem straightforward to adapt an existing fixed-term contract for a new hire in Indonesia, but unless that contract is in Bahasa, it will be deemed to be a permanent contract (and the process of terminating permanent employees in Indonesia can be protracted and painful).

5. Confirm immigration rules

The immigration situation will need to be considered if you are seconding someone from an office in a different jurisdiction or hiring someone who requires permission to work in the new country. For example, in Singapore, employers hiring foreign employees on an Employment Pass need to comply with the Fair Consideration Framework, which promotes hiring local talent and requires jobs to be advertised on a government website for at least 14 days.

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6. Identify the employing entity

Get the identity of the employer right in the employment contract. Whether the home or local company is the employer will usually be dictated by tax implications, advice on which will be money well spent.

7. Employee support

Consideration will also need to be given to the amount and type the support you will provide a secondee or expat in terms of living accommodation, shipping of possessions, and any additional pay or benefits. Many employers offer some form of tax equalisation arrangement when sending someone on secondment compensating the employee for any higher income tax rates he will encounter in the new country. Speak to your accountants about income tax, social security, and any double taxation issues.

8. Understand payroll obligations

While it may be tempting to pay secondees

Feature: Engaging Employees Overseas: Avoiding the Pitfalls

or new hires from the head office payroll, especially when initially setting up business in a new country, the payroll laws of many jurisdictions ban offshore wage payments.

There are ways around this, such as implementing a ‘shadow’ payroll, but care needs to be taken as violating payroll laws will often be a crime.

9. Document the agreement

Not all countries require a written employment agreement, though we would always recommend one as a matter of best practice. However, some countries, such as China, require that parties enter into a written employment agreement within a certain timeframe. Overlook technicalities such as this at your peril. In China, if a written employment agreement is not entered into within one month of the employment commencing, the employer is required to pay double wages for up to one year, and the employment may be deemed to be permanent.

About the Author Johanna Johnson is a cross-border employment law specialist at Taylor Vinters solicitors in Singapore. She has experience working for top law firms in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and London, and is able to find sensible and strategic solutions to any HR issue, no matter the jurisdiction or complexity.

Taylor Vinters provides a one-stop shop for a client’s international legal needs, working with its partner firms across the globe to ensure a consistent, commercial and costeffective approach in tune with local laws and practices. If you would like to discuss how we can help your business internationally, please do not hesitate to contact Johanna Johnson on +65 6589 3871 or at johanna.johnson@taylorvinters.com.

10. Protect the business

As a business expands, it will be prudent for it to consider how best to protect its developing confidential information, intellectual property rights, workforce and customer base. Employment contracts are an important tool in restraining employees.

What is enforceable in one jurisdiction, however, will not necessarily fly in another.

Take non-compete clauses: these, in any form, are unenforceable in India and Malaysia. A good adviser will help put your business in the best possible position to protect its interests.

With the right advice, dealing with overseas appointments should not consume too much of your time or resources. Starting the relationship on a sound footing and planning for future eventualities will help you avoid the mishaps and complications that can cause so much damage to an expanding business.

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Feature

Piracy in Southeast Asia

By Gerald Yee and Nazirah K Din When we think of piracy, Somalia and the 2013 Hollywood movie Captain Phillips comes to mind. It’s the story about the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama in 2009 and the capture of its American captain.

What many fail to understand is that the West Indian Ocean is not the world’s most dangerous seas. In 2014, the United Nations declared Southeast Asia seas as perilous. Piracy has always been endemic in Southeast Asia, and it is showing no sign of abating.

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Feature: Piracy in Southeast Asia

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outheast Asia is home to vital shipping lanes such as the South China Sea and the Malacca Straits. In fact, approximately one third of the global trade passes through one of the world’s “most important and strategic choke point.”

With its complex coastlines, it is one of the world’s busiest trade routes. The waterways between Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia have long been prone to piracy, and piracy is now in the ascendant in Southeast Asia.

While global piracy incidents have decreased from 445 pirate attacks in 2010 to 245 in 2014, Southeast Asia has emerged as a new spot for pirate attacks. According to One Earth Future Foundation study in 2010, it was estimated that piracy drains up to US$7 billion to US$12 billion from the international economy each year. Piracy is responsible for the rising economic and financial damage to countries and the international shipping industry; fraud, stolen cargoes, delayed trips and higher insurance premiums are consequences of piracy.

The IMB, which collects and collates information on piracy attacks around the world, reported that small tanker hijacks by armed gangs were escalating in the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

IMB reported that Asia accounted for 75% of the world maritime piracy and robbery in 2014.

A majority of maritime crime in Southeast Asia continues to occur at anchorage against crew members and ships. Southeast Asia waters are now deemed to be the most pirate-infested in the world. In fact, in the first nine months of 2014, the worst affected area was the Indonesian Island of Bintan. Southeast Asia was the location for 41% of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013. With increased traffic outside port limits along the Straits, this has resulted in the worrying rise in piracy in Southeast Asia. Regional Cooperation Agreement on Anti-Piracy (ReCAAP) reported 38 incidents of piracy or armed robbery in Southeast Asian waters in the first quarter of 2015, up from 29 in the same quarter last year.

Pirates active in the Southeast Asian region can be divided into two categories:

(1) opportunistic sea robbers who are involved in small scale attacks and (2) sophisticated and organised pirate gangs, responsible for hijackings and other major pirate attacks. With the increase in seaborne trade and shipbuilding tonnage worldwide, the amount of commercial traffic traversing the region’s waterways has increased substantially and resulted in the piracy in the region.

According to the ReCAAP, over half of the incidents lodged were petty thefts and resulted only in minor economic damage and did not lead to any crew injuries.

These were purely opportunistic attacks with the intent of stealing cash, scrap metal and crew’s personal effects, they were targeted at tug boats, barges, cargo ships,

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has adopted a broad definition of piracy.

“Piracy is an act of boarding any vessel with the intent to commit theft or any other crime and with the intent or capability to use force in the furtherance of that act.”

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and robbery against ships in Southeast Asia. With multinational naval patrol efforts launched off East Africa and improved on-board security, USA and its allies have been successful in their fight against piracy in the Horn of Africa.

IMB reported that waters off Somalia saw just three incidents in 2014, down from 160 in 2011. USA brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to fight piracy in Southeast Asia. What is surprising, however, is that Indonesia and Malaysia are not members of ReCAAP despite their geographic proximity to these attacks.

However, according to First Admiral Dato Zulkifli bin Abu Bakar, Director of the Maritime Criminal Investigations department of the Malaysian Enforcement Agency, Malaysia is approaching Indonesia and Singapore to enhance the network between law enforcement authorities in the three countries.

and other vessels. More serious attacks involve illegal syphoning of fuel in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea and occur at night outside Singapore’s port limits in less-policed waters.

ReCAAP is the first regional alliance to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery in Asia. Launched in 2006, it facilitates communication and information exchanges between

Clyde & Co is a dynamic, rapidly expanding global law firm focused on providing a complete legal service to clients in our core sectors of aviation, energy, infrastructure, insurance, marine, and trade. We advise businesses that are at the heart of worldwide commerce and trade.

This article was first published as a part of the APAC Marine & Trade newsletter (Jun 2015).

member countries. Singapore, Japan, Laos and Cambodia were the first four states to formally adhere to ReCAAP. To date 20 countries have become contracting parties to ReCAAP, with the United States of America (USA) joining Southeast Asia’s war on piracy in Sep 2014.

USA’s membership in ReCAAP will enable them to support multilateral cooperation in addressing the common threat of piracy

It is likely that piracy in Southeast Asia will continue for years to come, and will likely remain a security concern for the shipping industry and governments.

To combat piracy in Southeast Asia, steps in the right direction must be taken, and it requires more cooperation between countries. The plan for Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to launch more joint investigations on piracy crimes in the region is a step in the right direction.

Intelligence sharing mechanisms should be implemented, and users of the region’s waterways must take on greater responsibility in enhancing maritime security. Southeast Asian countries should work together and contribute to improve safety and security. Another point of consideration is that ReCAAP should be signed by regional states in Southeast Asia that have not yet done so.

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Feature

Budgeting for IT Money has to be set aside for the maintenance of a company’s current IT system—that is a given. However, planning to expand it in the short to long term requires alignment between IT budgets and company business goals.

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ost companies have the misconception that IT is an expense, a cost centre.

The truth cannot be further from that.

Most companies rely heavily on IT for daily operations, and any downtime to the IT systems and infrastructure can be catastrophic and cripple operations, to say the least.

How much, then, should a company allocate for its IT needs each year?

Every company will need to allocate its revenue from the previous year for different purposes for the upcoming year: Operations, HR, Marketing, Sales, Inventory, IT, R&D, Reserve, etc.

Since every company is different, it is fair to assume that each has different budgeting needs. However, it is imperative to understand the business goals to determine the IT budget to allocate. In short, every IT budget needs to align itself with the business goals of the company.

Business goals can be broadly classified into two groups: • The maintenance needs of the company, and • The business growth plans in the next three, five and even 10 years.

Once the business goals have been clearly defined, the next step is to find out how much is required to achieve them.

Established in 1996, Acuutech is headquartered in London, UK, with a regional headquarters in Singapore, and a partner network throughout Asia.

Acuutech provides comprehensive IT Solutions focused on corporate businesses, ranging from small- to medium-sized organisations requiring

Budgeting for maintenance needs is straightforward, as costs such as wages, equipment, warranty, subscription and licences are already known. The tricky part is in budgeting for growth. There are many factors to be considered when budgeting for growth. Often, market research is needed to determine the required solutions, deployment timeline, and cost estimates to achieve the business growth objectives.

As a rule of thumb, a company should allocate at least 1% of its revenue for IT budgeting. This should allow the company to keep its IT infrastructure sufficiently maintained and operational.

Any less and the company risks having downtime in its IT systems and infrastructure. For example, if Company A generated revenues of $5 million in FY2014, it is recommended that it allocates $50,000 for IT spending for FY2015.

In 2013, Gartner published its IT Key Metrics Data summary report, which surveyed 2,688 companies and revealed that each company budgeted between 1% and 8.1% of its revenue for IT spending. This is in line with our recommendation of minimum 1% of revenue for IT budget. However, micro-businesses with turnover of less than $500,000 are recommended to allocate more than 1% of revenue for IT spending—the IT budget should at

outsourced IT support to large multinationals requiring an extra pair of eyes to conduct IT audits or hands to deliver projects. Acuutech provides expert advice, consultancy, cloud-hosting solutions, network design/installation, telephone systems, remote and/or onsite support and IT procurement.

least cover the cost of a computer and essential IT services subscription, such as Internet and e-mail.

Having a guideline is a good starting point, but companies should seek expert advice from trusted or independent consultants to ensure that budget is allocated sufficiently for IT. Ultimately, technology should be deployed to support a company in achieving its business objectives.

Technology is akin to a tradesman’s tool: an electrician should not skimp on an electric screwdriver and revert to a manual screwdriver just because it adds cost to him. Likewise, a company should not look only at the cost of deploying technology, but weigh that against the benefits of employing technology.

Technology, when applied appropriately, can increase a company’s efficiency and innovation, thus improving both its top and bottom lines.

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British High Commission

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Delegates of the Northern Powerhouse trade mission with PM David Cameron and Business Secretary Sajid Javid.

Singapore and Southeast Asia:

Key to the UK’s Prosperity

By Sajid Javid

I am delighted to have made my first major trip overseas as Business Secretary to Southeast Asia. Having spent some time living and working in Singapore, it is a pleasure to be back in a region that I love so well.

Beyond the vibrancy of the people, the culture and happy memories, there are many very strong economic reasons for visiting Southeast Asia.

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outheast Asia is the UK’s eighth biggest export market, with £13.8 billion in exports per annum.

That’s three times more than we export to Brazil, and twice what we export to India.

As part of the Government’s efforts to increase UK exports to £1 trillion a year and to get 100,000 more UK companies exporting by 2020, the first trade trip of this Parliament brought delegates from our Northern Powerhouse to a region forecast to grow at 5% this year, with the potential to unlock huge opportunities for jobs and growth in the UK. More than 3,000 British businesses are already thriving in Southeast Asia, in every sector from advanced engineering, energy and healthcare to financial services, hi tech and creative services. And it’s not just the big names such as Roll-Royce, HSBC and

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GSK that have put down roots here: nearly 25% of UK firms active in the region are small-to medium-sized businesses.

The advent of the ASEAN Economic Community will ease the way for the 10 member countries to work even more closely together. With a skilled workforce and a youthful population providing a strong foundation for future growth, the region is playing an increasingly prominent role on the world economic stage.

That is why I came here with the Prime Minister and a large business delegation of more than 60 UK companies, including from the Northern Powerhouse of the UK. We want to grow our business with Southeast Asia by forging stronger bonds, creating trading partnerships and offering investment opportunities in the UK.

The advent of the ASEAN Economic Community will ease the way for the 10 member countries to work even more closely together. With a skilled workforce and a youthful population providing a strong foundation for future growth, the region is playing an increasingly prominent role on the world economic stage.

That is also why we have embassies or high commissions in all 10 ASEAN countries, and a UK Ambassador to ASEAN based in Jakarta. The Prime Minister has also appointed a trade envoy specifically for the ASEAN Economic Community. Richard Graham MP will take on the role alongside his existing role as trade envoy to Indonesia.

He joined the Prime Minister for talks with the ASEAN Secretary General during this trip. And our focus is not just on economic powerhouses such as Indonesia. Lord Puttnam has been working as trade envoy since 2012 with rising stars such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Laos. The re-opening last year of the Laos Embassy in London means that all 10 ASEAN countries now have missions in the UK, and vice-versa.

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One of the biggest challenges facing British businesses that want to operate in the region is protection of their intellectual property rights. During his visit, the Prime Minister announced that the UK and Singapore have agreed on an MoU to boost cooperation on this issue, providing greater reassurance for British companies that want to use Singapore as a springboard to the region.

The Prime Minister also announced that the UK government will provide technical assistance to Southeast Asian countries as they implement the reforms set out in the ASEAN Economic Community agenda, and to facilitate infrastructure development in the region. We are working within the EU to support free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the region. The EU’s first FTA in Southeast Asia—with Singapore—has already been

British High Commission: Singapore and Southeast Asia: Key to the UK’s Prosperity

We hope these will eventually lead to an EU-ASEAN FTA, creating one of the biggest free trade areas in the world, with combined GDP of more than $20 trillion, offering enormous economic benefits to people in Europe and all of the countries of Southeast Asia.

concluded, and we look forward to seeing it implemented. Negotiations with Vietnam are due to conclude soon, and discussions with other countries in the region are under way.

We hope these will eventually lead to an EU-ASEAN FTA, creating one of the biggest free trade areas in the world, with combined GDP of more than $20 trillion, offering enormous economic benefits to people in Europe and all of the countries of Southeast Asia.

But our focus is not just economic.

Science and innovation are at the heart of the UK’s long term economic plan.

We start from a strong position, with world-leading research, world-class universities and some of the very best global talent. We also recognise that the best science requires partnerships;

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leading UK researchers and innovators are developing partnerships with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to address key challenges, such as improving healthcare and making urbanisation more sustainable.

During this visit, we also agreed on ÂŁ500,000 of joint funding through the UK & Singapore Innovation and Research Partnership to help small- and medium-sized companies collaborate in the development and demonstration of technologies for smart cities.

And the UK is working with countries across Southeast Asia to tackle critical climate change issues, including how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, and how to shift our economies and energy systems onto a lower-carbon pathway, opening up new investment opportunities and innovative technologies.

All of these partnerships will help build long term collaborations with countries that will produce leading innovations in the future. Right now, there are more

About the Author Sajid Javid UK Secretary of State Business, Innovation & Skills This article was first published in The Business Times on 4 Aug 2015.

than 40,000 students from Southeast Asia studying in the UK, including 2,000 from ASEAN’s smallest member, Brunei, alone, and more than 140,000 students studying on UK programmes in Southeast Asia.

In an increasingly global market place, the importance of the economies in Southeast Asia is set to grow. I am confident that we can build on the Prime Minister’s visit to work even more closely with our ASEAN partners to help create jobs and growth for hardworking people in Southeast Asia and the UK.

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Britain in Southeast Asia News

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BiSEA News Since EU sanctions were lifted three years ago, major political and economic reforms in Myanmar have continued apace. Myanmar will see its first democratic elections in 25 years this November, and this will be a key test of the reform process. Launched just over a year ago, the British Chamber of Commerce Myanmar now has 150 member companies, and has become one of the leading business membership organisations in Myanmar.

The Chamber has ambitions to build on a successful first year of operations, and is working to develop its service offer for British companies entering the market, and achieve BCC accreditation.

For more information please e-mail Stephanie Ashmore: stephanie@britishchambermyanmar.com

2015 is proving to be a landmark year for UK/Vietnam bilateral trade relations.

In July, during Prime Minister Cameron’s visit, both countries welcomed the increased cooperation between Vietnamese and British companies. The Prime Minister witnessed signing of contract/investment agreements valued at more than £500 million.

In August, we welcomed the news that the EU and Vietnam have agreed on a free trade deal following two-and-a-half years of negotiations. Within this deal, Vietnam will liberalise its financial services, telecommunications and transport sectors, and remove/ease limitations on the manufacturing of food products and beverages.

If you want to know more, please contact our Executive Director at wai.ho@bbgv.org.

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The last quarter of 2015 will be busy and productive for the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP), with a number of social and business-focused events.

BCCP welcomed on 3 June BCC Director General John Longworth in his market visit to boost UK-Philippines trade relations.

We are proactively promoting the Philippines as a viable trade and investment destination. We will organise two trade missions, a trade conference, and two webinars for UK companies later this year to encourage them to seize the available business opportunities. We formed Committees for Membership, Events and OBNi to successfully implement our activities and drive membership growth.

Set on bolstering bilateral ties between Malaysia and the UK, the Northern Powerhouse delegation, comprising 60 SMEs from the UK, was greeted by key economic actors from both government and private sectors in Malaysia. UKTI & British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) hosted the delegation during their two day visit on 30 and 31 Jul. The delegation was led by Prime Minister David Cameron, who was accompanied

by Lord Maude, Minister of State for Trade & Investment; Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills; and Anna Soubry, Minister of State for Small Business & Enterprise. David Cameron is the first British Prime Minister to visit Malaysia in two successive terms, indicating the UK’s strong commitment to the longstanding partnership between the two countries.

The British Chamber of Commerce, Cambodia, will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary on 3 Sep. Founded in 1995 as the British Business Association and established as a Chamber of Commerce in 2013, the organisation has its origins in a regular monthly breakfast gathering hosted by the then British Ambassador for a small group of British businesses and business people.

The Chamber will also be in Singapore on 1 Sep to meet members of BritCham Singapore. Join us to find out more about opportunities in Cambodia, the current investment climate, and how to do business there.

BritCham, in partnership with UKTI London, One Asia Group and the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, recently conducted a webinar of ‘Doing Business in Indonesia.’ This is one of a series of webinar sessions which attempt to elucidate the investment climate and opportunities in Indonesia. This occasion was hosted by OBNI Project Director Karen Butterfield, One Asia Group Founding Partner Jeremy Kemp and from the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board Section Head, Andria Buchara.

The webinar was a huge success in terms of global scale. Nearly 230 registered participants attended the session, with companies from 15 diverse countries. This is a world record for the network! For further info, please contact us through uksme@britcham.or.id

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At the Chamber: Business Group News

IT & Communications Technology Group Chairperson: Andrew Pickup — Microsoft Asia

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he ICT Committee has undergone some changes in recent months. Following an open voting process, Andrew Pickup was elected Chairman, supported by Chris Reed as Co-Chair. The committee convened to discuss its overall goals, priorities, and broad direction.

The agreed goal of the ICT Committee is to “inspire, educate and engage Chamber members on the transformative capabilities of Information Technology to their business.”

We seek to add value to the Chamber and its members through activities that: • Demonstrate the value of ICT solutions to their business • Educate them on future ICT trends that will impact their business • Connect members via networking opportunities to better enable business • Share knowledge and insights • Attract new members to the Chamber Improving the diversity of the Committee is a priority. Traditionally, ICT has been a male-dominated industry. Increasingly, however, technology is becoming pervasive for everyone—in the way we work, live, communicate, learn and play.

With this growing ubiquity, it is important that our industry reflects all the audiences we serve.

We are thus delighted to welcome two new female members to the Committee—Elsie Yim and Louise Reed—who bring much-needed diversity to the group.

The Committee reviewed the key external ICT trends that will drive our industry as well as feedback from members on what topics they most want to hear about. From this, we will primarily focus on six keys areas: • • • •

Digital as a Disruptive Force Business Intelligence/Big Data Cloud Customer Relationship Management/Customer Experience

• Mobile • Cyber Security Some events and activities will focus on practical solutions that members can implement immediately, some will offer thought-leadership on a particular topic, while others will shine a light on the long-term future of our industry.

Whatever the topic, whatever the format, our goal is to offer value and insight to members (and non-members) alike.

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Property & Construction Group Chairperson: Marcus Eckersley — Cundall Singapore

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he Property and Construction Group has had an interesting quarter. We hosted Dr Megan Walters at the Conrad Centennial Hotel, where she delivered a fantastic insight into the property market within Asia.

The presentation delivered the facts, figures and trends that we can expect to see in the Asia property market, including the potential impact to our region from the consequences of oil prices, aging population, urbanisation, and the Greek debt crisis, among other intricacies of our business world. The presentation highlighted how fragile the Property & Construction sector can be, and how it reacts to both crises and stimulation.

The audience were even informed about 3D-printed property! The evening was open to all sectors, and was equally appealing to all who attended.

The evening was rounded off with networking, which saw more than 50 Chamber members making full use of the evening’s activities.

As we take stock and absorb what Dr Walters presented, we will be trying to match what we learnt with how matters develop in the market in Singapore and across Asia. Today, a month or so on, we see news that the domestic property market in Singapore is slowing while our businesses see the office workplace sector in Singapore experiencing likewise. However, clients are optimising their real estate. Smarter ways of working and operating the workplace are now becoming a common theme. Despite there being a slightly sluggish outlook, there are still plenty of tower cranes presiding above building sites in Singapore, so there will be plenty of opportunity for business to optimise, which in turn generates opportunities for our sector. We also see an ever increasing number of opportunities

from countries regionally that are in various stages of development and urbanisation. Our businesses need to react to these opportunities and develop our skills regarding how we work regionally, either between our existing office bases and/or circumnavigating anything in between. Our clients also need to understand how a regional team is more beneficial, through resources, specialisms, experience, availability and flexibility.

As we consider how we work regionally, perhaps using Singapore as our skill and knowledge base, we must be aware that the environment and sustainability

is playing an ever increasing part in what we do as a sector. We should not encourage the imparting of old technology or unsustainable ways of working or construction on developing countries. Some places in Asia are blank canvases, so we must encourage that our skills be used for them to step up their development in a sustainable manner. Within the last edition of Orient, Cundall wrote an interesting article on sustainability, which has stimulated some interesting conversations. As we move into autumn, the Property & Construction sector will be hosting another presentation on the subject that all are welcome to attend.

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Business Services News

Business Services Update OBNi Business Services at BritCham Singapore delivers Market Briefing to 60 companies from the Northern Powerhouse Trade Mission to Singapore led by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Business Secretary.

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The OBNi Business Services team delivered a Market Briefing presentation with practical advice and tips on working with agents and distributors in Singapore and managing their business in the wider ASEAN region. The presentation was part of a morning briefing hosted by the UK Trade and Investment in Singapore on 28 Jul 2015.

The 60 incoming delegates of the Northern Powerhouse Trade Mission were also given an update of the Economic Outlook of Singapore, ASEAN Economic Community 2015, and Intellectual Property Considerations for Southeast Asia by the UKTI team.

The session was closed off with a UK Company Case Study. This session provided the delegates with insights from the city-state and the wider region, gearing them up for doing effective business in the region.

Carole McCarthy Business Services Manager carole@britcham.org.sg Tel: +65 6222 3552 DID: +65 6718 0540

Following this, the Business Services team together with Chamber representatives attended the Business is GREAT Reception at Eden Hall on 28 Jul 2015, which was hosted by British High Commissioner Scott Wightman, and got a chance to shake hands with PM David Cameron.

During his speech, PM Cameron urged UK businesses to look to emerging

U K Tina Business Services Advisor tina@britcham.org.sg Tel: +65 6222 3552 DID: +65 6718 0538

markets such as Southeast Asia for growth opportunities, and invited foreign investors to invest in the UK. After Singapore, the Prime Minister, his team of ministers and the Northern Powerhouse Trade Mission headed off to their next stop: Malaysia. These efforts to engage with Southeast Asia bring renewed recognition of the untapped potential in the region.

Jared Sim Business Services Advisor jared@britcham.org.sg Tel: +65 6222 3552 DID: +65 6718 0539

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At the Chamber

BritCham New Members Corporate Plus Commerzbank AG Singapore Branch Paul Anthony Robbins

Corporate Representative (Voting) Mandarin Orchard Singapore Hee Ling Wong WIL Group Irina Bytchkova United Overseas Bank Chao Yong Sai Conrad Centennial Singapore Leo Frankel Fircroft Pte Ltd Dhirendra Shantilal

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Corporate SME

Overseas Corporate

Black Marketing Chris J Reed

ERC Equipoise Limited Mark Holliday

Inwa Advisers Pte Ltd Adrian Nicolas Cowell Commtech Asia (Singapore) Pte Ltd Sean Francis Delahunty Caevest Pte Ltd Stuart James Robinson GreenPlace Assets Pte Ltd Ian Hally

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At the Chamber: Sterling News UK’s Top Landmarks Named British Airways’ in-flight magazine High Life, in association with The Independent, has identified the top landmarks that define Britain in the 21st century in a three month-long campaign, during which readers were invited to name the buildings—both old and new— they felt exemplify the United Kingdom.

The campaign received more than 2,000 entries that nominated 150 landmarks spanning the whole of the UK, including the Millennium Bridge, Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park and Edinburgh Castle. Awarded the top landmark that defines the British skyline was Cornwall’s visitor attraction, The Eden Project, which transformed a disused china clay pit into a 21st-century global garden.

High Life editor Kerry Smith said, “The British skyline is moving on at an unprecedented pace and, in the quest to find the landmarks that define Britain in the 21st century, nominations ranged from Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage through to Stonehenge and the Shard. The final 21 landmarks celebrate British heritage along with the creative energy of the present.”

SEA Faces Leadership Crunch Southeast Asian organisations face looming crisis in leadership and workforce capability, according to Deloitte’s annual survey.

Lack of sufficient leadership talent is a top issue currently facing 86% of HR and business leaders, according to Deloitte’s Southeast Asia Human Capital Trends 2015: Leading in the New World of Work report released recently. All respondents reported that leadership was at least “somewhat important” to their business. However, the majority of organisations are still struggling to develop a pipeline of leadership talent. This current struggle jeopardises future growth. For more information, please visit http://www2.deloitte.com/sg/humancapital Deloitte helps organisations effectively manage their human capital to drive business growth by leveraging advanced analytics to develop talent management and business-driven HR strategies to deliver results. Deloitte is a leader in human capital consulting, bringing an effective combination of business, industry and HR knowledge, supported by the breadth of services and capabilities of a multi-disciplinary professional services organisation and global network.

Aviva Singapore launches Project Yellow@Ayer Rajah Aviva, a leading insurer in Singapore, launched a charity initiative—Project Yellow@Ayer Rajah (Project Yellow)—to commemorate SG50, in collaboration with Southwest Community Development Council (Southwest CDC) and Pasir Panjang Hill Community Services Centre (PPHCSC).

Project Yellow aims to improve the living condition of 50 homes in the Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens estates occupied by lower income families by sending 275 Aviva staff volunteers, including some from the Asian Regional Office as well as Aviva Investors, to clean the homes and install appliances. Aviva will then assess and decide whether further donations of new appliances are required.

Concurrently, Aviva also launched a food donation drive to collect from employees non-perishable items, which will be distributed to these 50 families. Items include staples such as rice, pasta, noodles, breakfast cereal, as well as dried foodstuff and low-sodium canned food.

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Asia Fashion Future The British Council and LASALLE College of the Arts are to launch a fashion business short course in Singapore called ‘Asia Fashion Future.’ It will bring together experts from the UK and Asia to examine opportunities and challenges facing the growing sector in Asia, and will take place from 26–29 Oct 2015 as a fringe event of the Digital Fashion Week.

Speakers include British luminaries such as shoe designer Kat Maconie, fashion columnist Lucy Siegle, and fashion educator Frances Corner, as well as Asians such as Ong Shunmugam, Ling Wu and Ken Samudio. Zalora and Lane Crawford are just two of the international retailers that will be sending representatives.

The course will ensure that diverse insights on the global fashion industry are shared, leading to a better understanding and increased potential for collaboration between participants from the UK and Asia.

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At the Chamber: Sterling News Taylor Vinters Announces Third TechConnection Law firm Taylor Vinters launches the third TechConnection on 22 Sep 2015. This annual Singapore event showcases emerging British technology talent and facilitates introductions to potential strategic partners and venture capital investors in Singapore, the world’s first *Smart Nation.

TechConnection is run in partnership with both the British and Singaporean governments, via UK Trade & Investment, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. Funding for attendance to the event is available for eligible businesses by UK Trade & Investment.

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At the Chamber: Corporate News

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Grant Thornton’s Leader for Europe Grant Thornton recently launched its Singapore office, offering audit, tax and advisory services to multinational inbound and outbound clients. Advisory services include transaction support, lead advisory support, business risk services, business consulting and risk, governance and compliance assistance.

With 611 member firm partners in Asia Pacific and US$583 million in revenue, Grant Thornton has a quickly growing presence in the region and is well placed to take on large companies across industries.

Grant Thornton was recently named ‘Employer of the Year’ by the International Accounting Bulletin, and was also was named in a survey of more than 240,000 business and engineering students as one of the 50 ‘World’s most attractive global employers.’

IMarEST Strengthens Expansion into Asia-Pacific The IMarEST has strengthened its expansion in Asia-Pacific by appointing David Kelly, currently Head of Marketing at IMarEST’s London headquarters, as Director of Asia-Pacific.

The position, based in Singapore, has been created to support the existing team to drive growth and awareness of the Institute.

David Loosley, IMarEST Chief Executive, commented, “David is the perfect candidate to further our exciting expansion in the very important Asia-Pacific region. He brings a great depth of knowledge and experience in creating and delivering strategies for developing business; this, coupled with his enthusiasm, is sure to generate some very successful activity here.”

‘ACCA on the Road’ Mini-Roadshows ACCA Singapore continues to organise the ‘ACCA on the Road’ mini-roadshows for its employer partners to share details of the ACCA Qualification for those exploring options, and to reach out to ACCA members, students and affiliates within organisations to share the benefits of the ACCA Approved Employer.

For further information about the mini-roadshows, contact ACCA at info.sg@accaglobal.com with the subject heading ‘ACCA on the Road’.

CBRE at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2015 CBRE secured 19 national awards and eight regional nominations at the prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards 2015. The excellent result included nine wins in the Best Property Consultancy category, with CBRE Australia and Singapore named the region’s overall highest scorers in the category and nominated for APAC regional awards at the global finals.

The awards and nominations were officially announced at a gala presentation dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on 8 May, with top national award winners gaining the coveted five-star recognition.

For more information, please visit our website http://www.cbre.com.sg/

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At the Chamber: Corporate News Def Leppard comes to Singapore With 100 million records sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard continue to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Among their biggest and most recognisable hits are ‘Photograph,’ ‘Hysteria’ and, of course, the anthemic ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ which not only established them in the music industry, but solidified their legacy. Def Leppard will perform their only show in Asia (excluding Japan) on 24 Nov 2015 at Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre, Level 6, Halls 601–604. Tickets are now on sale at sistic.com.sg and all SISTIC-authorised agents.

PageGroup Singapore’s New Senior Executive Sebastien Hampartzoumian, Senior Managing Director for Michael Page India, has been relocated to Singapore and will now cover both the India and Singapore markets as Senior Managing Director, PageGroup Singapore and India. He will report directly to Anthony Thompson, Regional Managing Director, Greater China and Southeast Asia.

With more than 15 years’ experience within the Group in India and Europe, Sebastien will play a pivotal leadership role across these important locations, which account for a growing team of 180 employees. He will continue to be a key member of the Asia Pacific Board.

JP Morgan Helps Hungry Families In partnership with Feeding Children Everywhere, more than 1,000 employees from JP Morgan’s Risk Management group combined efforts across five offices to pack more than 165,000 meals to feed nearly 27,000 hungry families around the globe.

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London employees packed nearly 19,000 meals New York employees packed more than 75,000 meals Hong Kong employees packed nearly 17,000 meals Columbus, Ohio, employees packed more than 33,000 meals Wilmington, Delaware, employees packed more than 21,000 meals

Additionally this summer, other employee teams across the firm also volunteered with Feeding Children Everywhere to help pack meals for those impacted by the earthquake in Nepal.

Keppel Shipyards Wins Contracts Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M)’s wholly owned subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard Ltd (Keppel Shipyard), has secured a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) conversion contract as well as three Repair, Upgrade & Modification contracts worth a total of about S$125 million.

The FPSO conversion project that Keppel Shipyard will be undertaking is for Armada Madura EPC Limited, a joint venture between long-standing customer Bumi Armada Berhad (Bumi Armada) and Shapoorji Pallonji Group (Shapoorji Pallonji). Work on the FPSO conversion, which has commenced, is scheduled to complete in 3Q 2016.

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Avis’ New Amenities Across Asia Avis Car Rental has strengthened its presence in Asia with the opening of new facilities in China, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. The company also expanded its pick-up location service in Indonesia, enabling customers to conveniently rent Avis vehicles at four new destinations there. The new facilities are located near transportation hubs or within hotels at popular tourism destinations. These include: • • •

Hong Kong: in Centre Point on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai Malaysia: at the Holiday Inn Melaka in Malacca Singapore: at Orchard Hotel on Orchard Road

William Hague Joins LinkLaters Linklaters announces the appointment of former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague as Chair of its newly created International Advisory Group.

The Group comprises a number of respected individuals with outstanding international reputations who will bring external perspectives to support the governance and strategic direction-setting of the firm.

The Group intends to offer guidance on a wide range of matters that impact our clients and us, drawing from their deep experience and knowledge. It will act as a sounding board, providing critical input as we develop and refine our strategy, suggesting priorities for consideration, highlighting opportunities, and signposting risk.

Robert Walters releases Job Report Robert Walters, the international recruitment consultancy, recently published its Asia Job Index for Q2 2015, which reveals that recruitment in the quarter was led by digitisation in Singapore.

Toby Fowlston, Managing Director, Robert Walters Southeast Asia, commented, “The annual dip in job advertising this quarter did not come as a surprise. What we have seen is a softening in the investment banking market, which has resulted in some banks downsizing and off-shoring to cheaper locations. However, the positive atmosphere in other industries, such as marketing and IT, should not be overlooked.”

For further information on the Asia Job Index or Robert Walters, please visit www.asiajobindex.com

UOB-Temasek Joint Venture United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has entered into an agreement with Temasek to provide venture debt financing to start-ups in China, India and Southeast Asia.

The UOB-Temasek joint venture will provide up to US$500 million in venture debt loans over the next five years to high-growth, innovative start-up companies operating in sectors such as technology, consumer, healthcare, and clean technology.

As part of the agreement, UOB will acquire a 50% interest in InnoVen Capital (InnoVen), a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek. Subject to regulatory approval, InnoVen will be a UOBTemasek joint venture. UOB and Temasek will each commit up to US$100 million of paid up capital to the joint venture.

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At the Chamber: Members’ Offers To find out more about our members’ offers, visit our website under Membership -> Members Offers.

Avis

Enjoy up to 10% off your next car rental with Avis worldwide!

British Airways

10% off airfare for British Airways

British Standards Institution

10% discount on ISO certification, training services and purchase of standards

The British Club

15% off British Club lifetime memberships

British Council

10% off all Professional Development Centre public courses

Bupa/Expat Insurance

10% off Medical Insurance Plan

City Serviced Offices

10% discount on facilities and services

Courts

5% off electrical & 10% off furniture

Emirates

Savings on regular & promotional fares from Singapore

FT

25% discount to FT Conferences

GEMS World Academy

Special Offer for BritCham Members

Grand Hyatt Singapore

Club at the Hyatt Membership Offer

Harry’s

15% discount at Harry’s

Highlander

15% off at Highlander CHIJMES

IOM Singapore

NEBOSH International General Certificate (IGC) course on 20% off

Marina Mandarin Singapore

Discounts off Room Rates and Food & Beverage

Meeting Magic International

Free live graphic recording at facilitated meetings and conferences in Asia 2015

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MSIG

Insurance Plans Discounts at MSIG

MCCS

25% off regular rates for corporate services

Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay

15% off total Food & Beverage bill at The Square

Raffles Singapore

Discounts off Food & Beverage, Restaurant Bookings & Event Meetings

Progress U

15% off International Corporate Coaching Programme

Quayside Isle

Up to 15% off F&B

Regus

Enjoy Complimentary Membership at Regus Business Lounges

Singapore Cricket Club

Up to $1,000 credit for F&B for BritCham members

Singapore Management University

10% off ‘Winning Business in Asia’ programme

SandBank

Enjoy 10% off total bill

Sonru

10% off Annual Subscription for Corporate Members

The Economist

10% print & digital subscription discount for The Economist

Survival Chic

10% off a 1-year Survival Chic Membership ($450)

The Bank Bar

Enjoy 15% off total bill at The Bank Bar + Bistro

The Fry Group

The Fry Group Life Insurance Special Offer for British Chamber Members

The Economist

20% discount to The Economist Events’ Innovation Awards and Summit 2015

Tower Club

Enjoy a 6-week Complimentary Trial Membership at Tower Club

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At the Chamber: Special Event

Chamber Members meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron B

ritish High Commissioner H E Scott Wightman CMG hosted a reception at Eden Hall on 28 Jul to welcome The Right Honourable David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which underpinned the long and robust partnership between the UK and Singapore.

During his visit to Singapore, Mr Cameron was accompanied by the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovations & Skills Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change Amber Rudd, Minister of State for Trade & Investment Francis Maude, Minister of State for Small Business, Industry & Enterprise Anna Soubry, senior officials, and two business delegations.

The reception was also attended by Singapore’s Minister from the Prime Minister’s Office Ms Grace Fu, delegates

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from the UK, business leaders in Singapore, as well as Chamber members.

In her speech, Ms Fu highlighted Singapore’s resilience through the global financial crisis and cited ‘FutureEverything Singapore’ as an example of Singapore-UK partnership.

FutureEverything Singapore is a weeklong digital festival taking place from 5–13 Sep 2015 as part of the SG50 celebrations, with the aim to celebrate SG50 by envisioning the impact of technology in the future. This is a partnership between IDA Singapore and an award-winning digital company based in Manchester, UK. Ms Fu encouraged everyone at the reception to explore business opportunities both countries had to offer.

Of the visit, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented, “Prime Minister Cameron’s visit reaffirms the strong bilateral ties between Singapore and the United Kingdom as the two countries commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.”

Following Ms Fu’s speech, Mr Cameron highlighted the importance of Singapore on UK’s prosperity agenda, and reflected on the historical ties between both countries. He congratulated Singapore on its 50th Anniversary and commended the country’s growth over the last five decades.

He urged everyone to look at the UK in a new way, citing “Britain is Back and Britain means Business,” which underlines the economic growth and progress of the UK among the G7 nations in the recent past.

The reception also showcased artwork

by UK Singaporean artist Sarah Choo Jing, Singapore-based artist Boedi Widjaja, and UK artist Brendan Neiland.

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At the Chamber: Special Event

BritCham Rugby World Cup Dinner 18 Jun 2015 The BritCham Rugby World Cup Dinner is a celebration of UK’s favourite sport.

Three rugby legends are invited every year to share their thrilling experiences in the sport with members and guests of the Chamber.

This year, we invited Brian Moore, Alan Quinlan and Andrew Merhtens, who took turns to regale the audience with anecdotes from their glory days.

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Brian Moore

Event Sponsor:

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Alan Quinlan

Hugo Walkinshow

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Andrew Merhtens

Flight Sponsor:

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Beer Sponsor:

Wine Sponsor:

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Five Keys to Supply Chain Success 25 Mar 2015 In today’s volatile business environment, it is crucial that one has a supply chain that is delivering value. In this interactive session, Don Harding of Oliver Wight shared five keys for supply chain success.

With these keys, participants will gain knowledge that would enable their supply chain to operate at ‘best in class’ performance levels and provide excellent customer service to external and internal stakeholders.

Effective Negotiation & Conflict Management as the Key to Success 16 Apr 2015 Negotiation is a life skill. In this event, the speaker introduced a framework and provided some useful tools to effectively negotiate and manage conflicts both in-house and externally with third parties. Guests and members participated in some exercises to learn the importance of skills such as communication, active listening and collaboration to achieve a win-win situation.

At the Chamber: Breakfast Clubs

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Everything You Wanted to Know About LinkedIn for SMEs 23 Apr 2015 Vicky Skipp from LinkedIn shared tips on social selling and creating a professional brand, while Chris Reed from Black Marketing shared 10 tips to improve one’s LinkedIn profile, along with some Dos and Don’ts. Following this, guests and members of the Chamber engaged in a panel discussion—moderated by Louise Reid from BDB Asia—on online campaigns as well as how to use LinkedIn, inMails and more.

A Balancing Act: Oil & Gas Industry Outlook for 2015 28 Apr 2015 In this breakfast briefing, Richard Bailey shared overall findings, five trends, and an analysis of the key pressures facing the industry in the year ahead and their likely impact from the industry benchmark study produced by DNV GL.

The BritCham Breakfast Club is proudly sponsored by:

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Retaining Talent & Improving Productivity in SMEs 5 May 2015 This event explored Roffey Park Institute’s recent research into talent management and productivity within SMEs in Singapore.

Michael Jenkins, the Chief Executive, shared best practices from SMEs and outlined a roadmap for successfully attracting, retaining and developing the right employees to grow one’s business.

Resolution of Crossborder Disputes: Latest Developments in the Singapore Landscape 28 May 2015 Singapore launched the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) in Nov 2014, and the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) in Jan 2015 to provide a complete suite of dispute resolution services to parties facing cross-border commercial disputes. What do these new institutions mean for international businesses, and how do they change the current dispute resolution landscape? With particular focus on SIAC and SIMC, this event updated participants on the latest developments and helped businesses understand and navigate the different options available.

At the Chamber: Breakfast Clubs

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Embracing Flexible Working 29 May 2015 Flexible working, work-life balance, diversity, and the boon or bane of being technologically connected were among the topics discussed in this breakfast session.

More than 90 participants learnt how organisations such as Vodafone, JLL and Barclays have been implementing flexible working principles and policies to embrace the modern worker. The session ended with a panel discussion moderated by Sian Brown, during which speakers took turns to answer questions and shared tips on how they role model flexible working.

Reducing Fraud & Corruption Risk 11 Jun 2015 In this event, Control Risks outlined regional trends in fraud and corruption risk that companies in Southeast Asia face daily. It provided insights into the most successful prevention and detection methodologies and best practices to effectively manage these risks, highlighted through a number of real-life case studies.

The BritCham Breakfast Club is proudly sponsored by:

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At the Chamber: Breakfast Clubs

Organising for Data Analytics & Big Data 14 Jul 2015 In this event, Ian Herbert from Loughborough University shared some insights and key learnings on a hot topic: generating insights through data analytics and big data.

He highlighted that, while business process centres may appear to be the natural areas to build analytical capability, progress will stall if the overall strategy is based on ever reducing cost rather than building value. A twin focus is easy to say, but often difficult to do. It was an insightful session for our members and guests.

The BritCham Breakfast Club is proudly sponsored by:

London Property: Implications After the UK General Election 23 Jul 2015 At this breakfast briefing, Anita Mehra took members and guests through the implications of property in London after the UK General Elections. She provided an overview of the property landscape and market before providing advice on property investment in London. Following that, her colleague, Marc von Grundherr, highlighted the changes to taxation of UK residential property.

Supporting Organisation:

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At the Chamber: Leaders in Business Lunch

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Lunch with Alan Yarrow, The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of the City of London 22 May 2015

L–R: Hugo Walkinshaw, Richard D Warburton, TRH Lord Mayor of the City of London - Alan Yarrow, Brigitte Holtschneider, David Pugh

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We welcomed the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow, in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, to the first Leaders in Business Lunch of the year.

In his talk, the Lord Mayor of London discussed latest updates about regulations in the banking industry, shared his views on diversity, and in particular women in investment banking. This was followed by a Q&A session.

The Leaders in Business Lunch was supported by:

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Crafting Your Strategic Advantage: How to Create More Demand 20 May 2015 In this event, the speaker covered the essential keys of being able to develop one’s strategy, state it simply, and translate it into effective actions so team members remain aligned and on the same page. The speaker taught the audience how to cut through some buzz words, showed a series of examples and answered questions about business and strategy from the floor.

Disruptive Decision Making 28 Jul 2015 Speakers Katherine Woods and John Ogier from Meeting Magic explored how our brain gets tempted to make mental short cuts to find quick solutions to problems and reveal the benefits of whole brain thinking that can lead to more breakthrough decisions.

Participants learnt some techniques that they could apply back in their workplace.

These included: • The five steps to alignment and collaboration • Where to look for diverse opinions and ideas • Create an effective decision-making platform through structured conversation designs • Utilise disruptive engagement and discussion activities to reach strategic decision points

At the Chamber: Business Group Working Lunch

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Decision-Makers’ Dinner: An Intimate Networking Evening 27 May 2015 The Entrepreneurs and Small Business Group (ESBG) recently organised a special networking dinner for a small group of 10 attendees, which included entrepreneurs, business owners and C-suite executives of small and medium enterprises.

23 Jun 2015

At the Chamber: Decision Makers Dinner

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At the Chamber: Evening Presentation/Networking

BritCham Diversity Networking Evening 3 Jun 2015 More than 80 members of the Chamber and their guests attended a special networking session organised by the BritCham Diversity Committee on the 3 Jun. During this event, Alan Seah, a representative from Pink Dot, shared the ‘what,’ ‘why’ and ‘how’ leading up to Pink Dot 2015 on 13 Jun, and covered the relevance of inclusive work practices for business.

Asia Pacific Outlook: Where Next for Real Estate and Construction Markets?

4 Jun 2015 More than 40 attendees from the construction and real estate industry attended its first event organised by the Property & Construction Business Group in the evening. Dr Megan Walters shared an outlook of the real estate and construction market in Asia, and spoke about the impact that the regional trends may have on Singapore. Following the presentation was a time of networking between members and guests.

Sponsored by:

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At the Chamber: Working Lunch

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Where is Travel Going in the Future?

16 Jun 2015

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This event brought together those interested in the dynamics, challenges and future of an industry characterised by new technology: travel. The panel included speakers from global hotel chain Starwood, newcomer and disrupter Airbnb, last-minute mobile-first site HotelQuickly, and supplier of promotional video solutions to hotels, Insider TV. Speakers: Jia Jih (JJ) Chai, Regional MD, Airbnb; Janice Chan, Senior Digital Director, Starwood Hotels; Steven Hopkinson, COO & Founder, Insider TV; Moderator Tomas Labouka, CEO & Founder, Hotel Quickly

Whisky Tasting Session: SBG & YBC 11 Jun 2015 This event was a joint collaboration between the Scottish Business Group and the Young British Chamber Business Group. Members and guests of the Chamber were treated to an evening of whisky tasting and knowledge sharing about The Balvenie brand, followed by a time of networking.

Sponsored by:

Venue Sponsor:

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Shakespeare in the Park: The Tempest 14 May 2015 The British Chamber of Commerce organised a gathering of more than 100 members and friends for an unforgettable evening at Fort Canning Park on Thursday 15 May to watch one of Shakespeare’s most beloved play, The Tempest.

At the Chamber: Special Event

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Barclays Asia Trophy Training Sessions 14 Jul 2015 In partnership with UK Trade & Investment and UK in Singapore, our members and their friends and family had the opportunity to watch all three Premier League teams—Arsenal, Everton Football Club and Stoke City Football Club—undertake a training session for the Barclays Asia Trophy 2015.

Supporting Organisation:

P R E S E N T S

Book your tables today!

Saturday, 5th December 2015 Resorts World Sentosa 7:00 PM - 2.00 AM Black Tie & Evening Gown

It’s the year of the Golden Jubilee and we’ve saved the best for last! Join us in the SG50 grand finale and celebrate in style with our partners, members and friends at the ‘Colours of Singapore’ BritCham Ball.

‘Colours of Singapore’ is a cumulation of the cultural diversity and rich heritage of Singapore over the last 50 years. On the 5th December, the Ballroom at Resorts World Sentosa will be transformed into a myriad of colours, with a touch of the flavourful ‘Streets of Singapore’ in a modern twist. Guests will enjoy specially created cocktails created by L’Aiglon Bar and a delectable three-course dinner paired with free-flow wines and spirits that will keep you in a fantastic party mood.

The charming Henry Goulding will be your emcee for the evening, and Justin Sampson will lead the live auction with money-can’t-buy prizes. No party is complete without dancing and music, so bring your dancing shoes and rock till the wee hours with the energetic live band 10 Seconds. Don’t forget the open bar, which will keep you going all night long!

It’s going to be a fabulous evening of celebrations with friends, drinks, dancing and prizes. Book your tables today!

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GIFT BAG

VISIT WWW.BRITCHAM.ORG.SG OR EMAIL US AT BRITCHAMBALL@BRITCHAM.ORG.SG FOR MORE INFORMATION

BAND

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