2nd SCCCI Trade Association Congress
The 2nd SCCCI (Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Trade Association Congress was held on 3 December 2009. Supported by SPRING, IE Singapore, IDA and Singapore WDA, the congress gave insights on expanding and developing new markets, and developing the workforce for growth to over 400 representatives, including 76 trade association leaders. The event included a dialogue session with Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower.
Speaking at the congress, Mr Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of SPRING, highlighted that trade associations play a critical role in helping enterprises increase their competitiveness. They have to hence understand the environment and challenges of enterprises, develop an adept service orientation and forge partnerships and collaborations to continue to provide value added services to their members.
SME Blended Score
Credit Bureau Singapore has teamed up with FICO, a United States based consultancy to develop a credit rating system for SMEs, which is known as SME Blended Score. This system helps to overcome the challenge of securing business financing by SMEs. Supported by Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and SPRING, the new score seeks to enhance SMEs' access to credit and trade credit of banks or financial institutions.
The new scoring process will 'blend' the personal credit behaviour of the shareholders with their companies' trade data, to give lenders a better picture of the firm's creditworthiness. The company data comprise commercial tradelines loaded by the company's suppliers, litigation and bankruptcy information, macro-economic indicators such as the inherent risk associated with the business sector, how long a company has been in business as well as trends in business performance and the overall economy.
NADCAP Series 2009
The fourth session of the NADCAP Series 2009 was held from 30 November - 4 December 2009. Jointly organised by SPRING, the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore) and the Performance Review Institute (PRI), the session provided a comprehensive introduction to quality management in the aerospace sector. Comprising three workshops, the session equips participants with the fundamental concepts of quality and its practical application. Conducted by Mr Guy Levasseur, Instructor, eQuaLearn, from PRI, about 70 professionals from the aerospace sector attended the session.
