#FridayFive from the Executive Director: 4 October 2024

How is it October already?! My #FridayFive as we launch into Q4 across the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore (BritCham):

1.      Trade support - It was brilliant to welcome Michael Jolley-Pathirana Dissanayakage, International Trade Advisor at the Department for Business and Trade in the UK. We met online during covid, and it was fab to reconnect in person and talk about how we can support UK companies exploring Singapore and South East Asia. Thank you Michael for popping by on your personal holiday time. Lots of exciting things to do together. 🚢 🚚

2.      Solar Energy: Our built environment committee organised a tour of the Sembcorp Industries Ltd Tengeh Floating #Solar Farm. With sustainable energy sources being an important topic, it was great to see how #Singapore is building solar #energy capacity. Occupying 1/3 of the Tengeh Reservoir, the farm outputs 60MWp, powering 16,000 4-room HDB households. Impressive stuff. Huge thanks to Marc Betz from RED Engineering Design for arranging the visit. ☀ 🔌

3.      British Community: I was delighted to represent the British business community at Eden Hall, as His Excellency Nikesh Mehta brought together the British community leaders. The British network is a strong one, and meetings like this allow us to engage to keep our community as connected as possible. Thank you Nik for the scones with cream and jam, and fab to see our British colleagues. 🇬🇧 🇸🇬

4.      Education: It was a pleasure to meet up with Prof Jane McFadyen PVC and Head of College & Charlotte Coleman, Director of College, from the University of Arts London. Inspiring future talent and supporting connections between Singapore and the United Kingdom falls as a pillar of the Chamber. Safe onward journey and look forward to seeing you both again soon (and thank you for such a brilliant dinner together). 🏫 👩‍🎓

5.      Export and Finance: with @TXF Asia 2024: Agency, Energy & Infrastructure Finance exhibition at Marina Bay Sands Expo, it was great to connect with Anil Mahtani and Tim Rockell as we talked about how our committees and the Chamber can do more to support British business in Singapore and hashtag#ASEAN. Thanks to you both for squeezing in the time to visit the Chamber office; a great end to the week. 💹 🤝

I also had an ExCo meeting, met with two Banks, hosted a professional bodies group, and reconnected with the awesome John Dykes.

That’s it for this week, have a great weekend, and look forward to our Annual Business Awards next week. If you’ve not yet signed up to attend, I’ll drop a link in the comments below and look forward to seeing you there!