Overseas exposure key to nurture S’poreans for regional and global leadership roles: EDB
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The Global Business Leaders Programme encourages workers to take up overseas assignments that would equip them for regional or global corporate roles.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – Efforts are being ramped up to develop a corps of Singaporeans capable of taking on leadership positions in global companies, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Feb 6.
One initiative is the Global Business Leaders Programme which began in 2024 to encourage workers to take up overseas assignments that would equip them for regional or global corporate roles.
“We want to make sure that more Singaporeans are able to take on leadership roles domestically. Secondly, they must be willing and able to take on leadership roles in the region,” said EDB chairman Png Cheong Boon, who was speaking at the launch of the board’s annual review.
“If we can do that, then we have a higher chance of making sure that Singaporeans do account for a fair share of regional leadership positions provided by multinational companies all over the world.”
Overseas exposure has helped Dr Yvonne Tan, head of the Volvo tech hub here, progress to a leadership role.
Dr Tan, 49, joined auto giant Volvo Cars in September 2023 and started work in Gothenburg, Sweden, to help set up a foundation for the tech hub’s development in Singapore. She then became the tech hub’s first employee.
Dr Yvonne Tan, head of the Volvo tech hub in Singapore, was the hub’s first employee.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
The Volvo tech hub, which
“Given Singapore’s relatively small domestic market, start-ups must adopt a global mindset from the outset and focus on scaling our innovations beyond local borders and establishing a strong international presence,” said Dr Tan.
The challenges of overseas work also attracted Mr Rajiv Aravindan Rajeswaran, mergers and acquisitions integration manager at water treatment company Gradiant.
When Mr Rajeswaran, 42, moved from the oil and gas industry to the sustainability sector, he was given the opportunity to help set up a chemical blending facility in Germany and moved to the country for 18 months in May 2024, less than six months after starting his new job.
Mr Rajiv Aravindan Rajeswaran, 42, made a switch from the oil and gas industry to the sustainability sector.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF RAJIV ARAVINDAN RAJESWARAN
“The overseas assignment presented me with the opportunity to understand the local work ethic and values (in Germany),” he told The Straits Times.
“This in turn helped me develop good cross-cultural business acumen.”
Mr Rajeswaran added that he was able to build a global professional network and demonstrate leadership traits in his role, which boosted his confidence personally and professionally.
“Working with the colleagues (in Germany) had been nothing short of enthralling. It was a great learning experience to observe how systematically issues were approached, analysed and solved.”
The EDB’s review noted that it is working with companies, training partners and industry associations to equip workers for new jobs that are being created.
The projects Singapore attracted in 2024 are expected to create around 18,700 new positions when fully implemented over the next five years, a 6.71 per cent decline from the preceding year.
“With technology and AI (artificial intelligence), you don’t really need more people doing the same amount of work,” said Mr Png.
Around 46 per cent of the jobs to be created will be in services, 37 per cent in manufacturing and the remaining 17 per cent in R&D and innovation.
EDB has also tied up with the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Advisory Council and Republic Polytechnic for an initiative to support the biopharmaceutical industry.
The board’s ongoing collaboration with Enterprise Singapore has helped deepen links between multinationals and local companies, resulting in 17 new partnerships in 2024.
The enhanced Partnerships for Capability Transformation grant scheme supports tie-ups between multinationals and their local suppliers and partners, in areas including capability training, internationalisation and corporate venturing.
“To remain a choice location for high-performing companies, we will strengthen our local ecosystem as enablers and prepare our workforce to seize new job and leadership opportunities,” said Mr Png.
Correction note: The spelling of the name of water treatment company Gradiant has been updated in this version of the story.
