On 1 July 2022, Business China organised the seventh Distinguished Leaders Dialogue Series (DLDS) with Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade & Industry, Dr Tan See Leng as distinguished speaker. Titled “Innovations in Talent Management for Economic Sustainability”, the closed-door dialogue session was held at Raffles Hotel Palm Ballroom.
The one and a half hour dialogue session saw close to 70 invited attendees who included prominent business leaders, C-suites professionals, Advanced Leaders Programme (ALP) alumni, Business China corporate members and Business China Youth Chapter (BCYC) members. The dialogue was moderated by Business China CEO Ms Tin Pei Ling.
Business China Chairman Mr Lee Yi Shyan gave the opening remarks, where he stressed on the importance of lifelong learning, which includes having to constantly acquire new skills, to unlearn and re-learn. He then briefly introduced Minister Tan’s illustrious career as a businessmen and now in the public sector.
Minister Tan then took the stage to deliver his keynote address. He summarised the various government schemes and programmes that companies can tap on to build a strong workforce and transform their business. He also emphasized the importance of training and retaining talent.
Questions asked in the session were largely focused around the manpower issues and challenges that businesses face. Some of the challenges raised include lack of skills, shortage of workers and talent, changing attitudes towards work and jobs in recent years, as well as having to promote enthusiasm at work and entrepreneurship, all of which Minister Tan handled candidly.
Minister Tan also affirmed that Singapore is open for business and that the government continues to serve Singaporeans and businesses based here. One way is to support companies with demand for high quality talents, as long as the companies are not competing based on low cost only. He cited the introduction of the points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) for individuals applying for/renewing their Employment Pass (EP) in Singapore, which is a good example of how the government has responded to industries’ manpower needs. Minister Tan also stated that the government is working hard to train and equip as many residents as possible with the right skills, especially digital readiness skills. This is because it is the fundamental building blocks from which our people can scale up and secure good jobs moving forward in the industrial 4.0 era and beyond.
The Distinguished Leaders Dialogue Series is Business China’s flagship dialogue series. It features Singapore’s eminent political leaders, who share their invaluable insights on pertinent issues and trends related to China and ASEAN. It is attended by invited members and stakeholders of Business China.