Training courses by S’pore a boost for careers, knowledge-sharing, say alumni

SINGAPORE - Singapore’s programme for providing technical assistance to other countries offers a platform to share knowledge and best practices to overcome global challenges.

Participants of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) said the courses they have attended under the SCP were useful for their careers.

Over 150,000 foreign professionals have attended courses under the SCP, which marks its 30th anniversary in November. Under the programme, established in 1992, foreign officials can sign up for courses that the Government supports.

Dr Sasa Lazovic, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Education in Serbia, was in town in September to attend a programme on technical vocational education and training that was organised by the SCP. He said he signed up for the course because he saw it as an opportunity to share the experience of Europe, and to learn about the way things are done here too.

“If we share the challenges, and we certainly do share the challenges, then we have to find a way to share the solutions as well. The problem is that the complexity of these challenges is increasing,” he said.

“It means that we need to have a huge number of highly skilled and knowledgeable people.”

Ms Tifa Laily Savitri, head of the international cooperation subdivision in Indonesia’s National Civil Service Agency, said she attended a week-long virtual course on strategic leadership and public governance in 2022, which showed how the Singapore Government, its public sector and society work together.

This was highlighted during a virtual tour of the one-north district during the course, where participants were able to see the area’s fibre research facilities, as well as the way the biomedical companies in the district do their work.

Located near Buona Vista, the one-north district is developed by Singapore as a high-tech and research and development hub, and houses knowledge and innovation-based industries such as biomedical sciences and infocommunications technology.

Ms Dianne Rampadarath from Trinidad and Tobago said trainers from the SCP course she attended in 2022 on public-private partnerships in infrastructure project development took into account the different languages and cultural differences of its participants.

“We were all able to understand even though we were from diverse backgrounds,” said the assistant director at Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.

The SCP also encourages stronger ties with the rest of the world, said participants like Mr Sulayman Gaye, who is a senior planner at the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure in Gambia.

He attended an in-person course on sustainable urban transport planning and management in 2014, but was in town again in 2022 to meet Singapore’s Ministry of Transport officials to discuss areas of cooperation.

“The SCP encourages the convergence of people from different cultures in a multicultural environment for participants to share experiences and best practices. So I think the SCP is really encouraging cooperation around the world,” he said.