New deal makes it easier for accredited Chinese engineers to work on S'pore projects
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Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan (left) and Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling witnessing the signing of the deal by IES international outreach committee chairman Tan Seng Chuan (seated) and Chinese Society of Engineers executive deputy director-general Zheng Kai.
PHOTO: THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS SINGAPORE
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SINGAPORE - To increase competency and plug the shortfall of engineers in sectors such as the built environment, manufacturing and robotics, a new agreement makes it easier for accredited Chinese engineers to work on Singapore projects.
Mr Tan Seng Chuan, Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) international outreach committee chairman, said: "Due to industry transformation and the wave of green economy, there is an increasing demand for engineers with new skill sets and competency."
"I think we need more talented engineers by attracting Chinese engineers to come over to help widen our talent pool," he added.
IES and the China Association for Science and Technology (Cast) on Thursday (June 30) signed a mutual recognition agreement to reduce barriers to cross-border work by engineers from China and Singapore.
Details are still in the works but both organisations will agree on a set of accreditation criteria, such as academic qualifications and the number of years of relevant experience, which will be benchmarked against international standards.
In Singapore, this accreditation will be tied to the IES Chartered Engineer Programme, which gives employers a yardstick to judge potential hires.
There are also different grades of chartership which will allow chartered engineers to take on different levels of responsibility for projects.
Local chartered engineers will benefit from the agreement as well.
"China is a big market. Singapore is a very limited market," Mr Tan said, adding that local engineers will have more opportunities to export their knowledge in water conservation, treatment and smart metering, as well as sustainability and urban planning, to China.
Since the programme was launched nearly 10 years ago, IES has attracted more than 500 engineers, and hopes to have 5,000 chartered engineers in the next few years, according to Mr Tan.
Aside from China, IES has signed mutual recognition agreements with Britain, the Netherlands and Australia, and is in talks to bring on board other countries, especially those in Asean.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, who was the guest of honour at the signing ceremony, said Singapore will "benefit greatly from more exchanges with China".
She said: "I am very certain that the close collaboration between IES and Cast will contribute to our existing bilateral cooperation in sustainability and the digital economy.
"To advance in areas such as low-carbon energy, green buildings and digital trade, we will need deep technical expertise and novel engineering solutions."
At the signing ceremony, a memorandum of understanding was also inked between IES and Cast to promote information exchange, encourage collaborations between businesses from both countries, engage universities and companies for student exchange programmes, and facilitate the publication of selected papers, articles and journals.
Mr Tan said the collaboration will encourage research and development to find engineering solutions such as climate adaptation and mitigation methods to cope with rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions, and ways to reduce carbon emissions.
In his speech in Mandarin, Cast vice-president Zhang Yuzhuo said: "Through our partnership, we'll be able to nurture excellent talents who will help us to carry out more innovations. Talented engineers are the backbone to carry out long-term innovations."
