In the first half of 2017, IE Singapore together with Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee (SIPAC) and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Investment and Development (SSGKC) Co., Ltd will commence the China Ready Programme in both Suzhou and Guangzhou, China.

This announcement was made by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore at its China Ready programme held to address common challenges faced by Singapore companies such as lack of readiness and work experience in-markets when they expand to China.

The 10th Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council (SJCC) meeting was held on November 30, at Nanjing, China was co-chaired by Minister of State (MOS) for National Development and Trade and Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon, and Jiangsu Vice Governor, Mr Zhang Lei. Echoing the importance of talent development for overseas growth, two talent-related MOUs were signed on the side lines of the SJCC meeting. These include:

• YCH Group Pte Ltd (YCH) will be working with Jiangsu Vocational College of Business (JVCB) to implement a certified logistics and supply chain management course, to meet growing demand for logistics professionals in China. This will benefit its workers and will contribute to the company’s overall growth plans.
• Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Nanjing Branch and Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco Hi-Tech Island Development Co. Ltd (SNEI) and Singapore-Nanjing Eco Hi-Tech Island Administrative Committee Office (SNEIC) will sign four-party MOU. They will work on student and staff exchange, student internships and project collaboration, enabling SUTD students to gain knowledge and insights into the Chinese market and prepare them for a global career.

Convening the meeting, MOS Koh Poh Koon said, “Talent plays a key role in cross border collaborations. As economic collaboration between Singapore and China grow from strength to strength, it is critical that Singapore companies have access to a pool of talent that have relevant market expertise and are global ready, to support their ventures in-market.”

See: Future proofing the next generation of Singapore talent

Besides talent development, Singapore and Jiangsu will see deeper collaborations in manufacturing, logistics, digital and Internet-of-Things, building on the industrial strengths of both countries. This is also in line with China’s national “Made in China 2025” initiative, which details plans to upgrade China’s industries amid the global revolution of Industry 4.0.

The China Ready Programme, will be a 15-day programme catered towards PMETs. It will focus on a combination of go-to market curriculum with access to industry experts, one-on-one market mentoring and peer learning.

Participants can gain deeper knowledge and understanding of the market and establish key contacts with government and business communities to support their companies’ expansion into China.

In 2015, Singapore retained its position as Jiangsu’s ninth trading partner with total trade standing at US$12.4 billion, a 0.4 percent increase from the same period in 2014. In the same year, Singapore was Jiangsu’s second largest foreign investor country with investments mainly in real estate, manufacturing, telecommunication equipment, transportation, storage and financial industries. In Q3 2016, Singapore’s cumulative investment into Jiangsu totalled US$25.9 billion.

Also read: HR Talent with Soft Skills to Be Most Sought After by MNCs in China

Image credit: LinkedIn