2 minute read
SMF
New role, same ambition
After more than three decades working for the government Beng Tee Tan moved to the private sector last year. She’s still determined to ensure Singapore maritime evolves
Few people are more responsible for the rise of Singapore to its preeminent position on the world maritime map as Beng Tee Tan. In her role at the Maritime & Port Authority (MPA) - and latterly as executive director of the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) - Tan has helped land many of the most important shipping and trading firms into the Lion Republic, creating a near perfect, all encompassing maritime hub.
Tan attributes much of the rise of maritime Singapore to the strong publicprivate partnerships, something that neatly chimes with her career switch. After more than 30 years working for the state, since January 2021, Tan has headed up the SMF, a private sector led group aiming to develop and promote the republic as an international maritime centre.
As the industry transforms, in response to global developments, maritime Singapore must continue to keep pace and continue to be agile, she says in conversation with Splash.
“Two areas that we could focus on would be in ship finance and in growing Singapore as the location for solution providers be it for technology or business,” Tan says.
Much of the SMF’s focus this year has been in nurturing new talent. In April the Maritime Just Transition Task Force founded by the International Chamber of Shipping, the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the UN Global Compact welcomed the SMF as its first public programme partner. The task force was convened to ensure fair and equitable green transition for workers, communities and all nations as shipping decarbonises.
“We recognise that sustainable shipping requires a workforce equipped with new skills. A key challenge therefore is to identify the suite of skills required for new talent, and how to reskill the existing workforce,” Tan says.
Recently, SMF also partnered with two local lines, Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL) and Pacific International Lines (PIL), to enhance the attractiveness of maritime jobs through a job redesign pilot to assess ways to enhance workforce productivity and improve talent attraction and retention. The findings and learning from the pilot will be synthesised into a maritime workforce transformation guidebook.
“The competition for talent is keen. If the maritime sector wants to continue to draw talent, we must be adaptive,” Tan says, concluding: “We will continue to ensure that Singapore remains relevant and dominant in an industry that is constantly evolving.”
