Orient Magazine Issue 73 - September 2019 | Page 7

Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 73 September 2019

Dear Members,
Welcome back from what I hope was a relaxing and fun-filled summer with family and friends. For those of you who travelled back to the UK it will have been hard to miss the biggest news of the summer (other than the heatwave), that the UK has a new Prime Minister in Boris Johnson following the Conservative Party leadership contest. The Chamber stands ready to support businesses in Singapore through updates, access to Government, information and opportunities to feedback as we enter a period of EU Exit negotiations.
In July, the Chamber welcomed our new Executive Director, David Kelly, who is now in post. On behalf of the Board I would like to personally welcome David and we look forward to working together for the benefit of the British business community in Singapore. The new British High Commissioner, Kara Owen, has taken the time to meet with our Board and many of our members this summer through a series of engagements. We look forward to supporting Kara and her team on the focus areas of the SG-UK Partnership for the Future – the digital economy, sustainable business and innovation, security and defence, and education, culture and youth.
Last month Singapore celebrated its National Day with a series of activities around the city state. In his National Day Rally Speech PM Lee Hsien Loong recognised the many bicentennial celebrations taking place throughout the year. In our own events calendar this year we have recognised this milestone with a joint event on internationalising businesses with the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, showcasing successful companies such as Dyson and Mott MacDonald. PM Lee further focused on education at preschool and post-secondary levels, support for older workers as addressed in our own recent event with Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo, preparation for climate change impacts and planning for the infrastructure needs of the future. Many of these focus areas align with the UK’s strategic ambitions, such as the need to nurture talent at all stages in their education and career, retirement considerations and environmental and sustainability targets.
As heatwaves swept across Europe, a new report was released in August by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) sending another crucial signal on global warming and highlighted that we are still far from reversing the trend. Public discourse on the urgency of climate change mitigation has been ramping up since. Yet at this very moment, the world watches helplessly as the Amazon rainforest burns at a record rate. Instead of taking part in finger-pointing and further politicising the matter, I sincerely hope and urge our members to continue to take the necessary steps towards zero waste, zero carbon future.
This month the Chamber is hosting two major sporting events with our traditional F1 event on the Thursday of the race weekend providing an exclusive opportunity to hear from a McLaren F1 team driver and learn about the application of F1 technology into other industries. Thank you to Board Member Michael Shearer from McLaren Applied Technologies for this fantastic access for our members. In the week prior to this, we will be hosting several rugby legends for our World Cup Rugby Gala Dinner at the Shangri-La. Find out about these events and more on our website and through our newsletters.
Finally, I hope that you take away some key messages from this special issue which looks at diversity. The Chamber continues to support our members in educating and holding dialogues on this and other important topics such as sustainability. Turn to page (XX) to view our commitments to making a contribution where we can.
I look forward to seeing you at many of our fantastic activities over the coming months.