#FridayFive from the Executive Director: 8 November 2024

From Plastic to Princes – a super packed #FridayFive this week across the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore (BritCham).

1.  Insurance: I attended The Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (thanks Lloyd's) where I also met Nick Andrews from Ramon International Insurance Brokers Limited (my first internship!). Took away the 7 points for success in #reinsurance: 1) Long Term Partnerships, 2) Wider Industry Expertise; 3) Product Innovation; 4) AI and Predictive Modelling; 5) Simplicity (when expanding products overseas); 6) Active Communication across Stakeholders, and 7) Invest in People and CPD. The United Kingdom is one of the largest #insurance markets in the world, being home to both a very large domestic market, and many multinational insurers who provide insurance services around the world, and great to celebrate Lloyd’s 25th Anniversary in #Singapore with Emma Loynes Janus Cheung and the team. 👩‍💼 🎉

2.  Ocean Plastic: Did you know that 19 tons of plastic waste is dumped into our hashtag#oceans every minute, and only 1% of plastic is visible on the surface? Met the super inspiring Luc des Vallières from Plastic Odyssey, talking plastic credits, investment in people and local island economies, and community support to help protect our oceans which are vital to our existence. Really suggest you check out their website! 🌊 🌏

3.  Tech and Investment: The team have been around the Singapore FinTech Festival and EDUtech Asia, and Lucy and I were delighted to meet with Dawn Dunn from Invest Newcastle as we talked about opportunities for collaboration, #tech exports from the North East of England, and interest in Singapore companies expanding into the UK. Thanks also to Daisy Radford (our Tech committee Chair) for attending the British Tech Advisors (B.TA) launch this week with an MOU signing coming soon! 👩‍💻 💹

4.  Caring for Children – what an honour to meet HRH Prince Michael of Kent, patron, and the amazingly inspirational Founder, Robert Glover OBE of Care for Children (International NGO). We were delighted to welcome NatWest Group, Unilever, Barclays, North London Collegiate School (Singapore) and BT Group as we discussed the amazing work they are doing internationally. Thanks also to Thomas Abbott and Nicholas Chance, CVO – excellent to meet you all, and thank you to His Excellency Nikesh Mehta (and Paul Broom) for hosting the Chamber. 🆘 🚸

5.  Using blockchain to disburse humanitarian aid: This was one of the topics discussed, together with economic inclusion for refugees, when we met the incredible Carmen Hett is UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency's Corporate Treasurer with David Sharratt . Podcast due out in a few weeks... 🤝 💻

And with the #US elections this week, I attended a really brilliant session with the The Wall Street Journal featuring Deborah Ball Josh Glancy Amanda Hodge and Steven Okun.

And…that’s a wrap. See you at Kranji on Remembrance Sunday if you’re going, and have a great weekend ahead. #LestWeForget