Remarks by Mr Ho Meng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore ...

Welcome Remarks by Mr Ho Meng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, SingaporeBusiness Federation, at Singapore Sustainability Awards (SSA) AwardsPresentation & Gala Dinner, on 11 July 2011, 7.30 pm – 10 pm,Gallery Ballroom, Grand Hyatt Singapore-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Trade and Industry;Mr Tony Chew, Chairman, Singapore Business Federation;Distinguished guests;Ladies and Gentlemen:As the apex business chamber of Singapore, one of the roles of the SingaporeBusiness Federation is to move our members and the larger business communityto the leading edge where global issues would receive better understanding andcorporate transformation initiated to deal with the challenges and opportunitiespresented by these issues. Sustainability is one such global issue that requiresour attention.Created as a bridge between Government and the business community, SBF’sapproach has been to strengthen the network between all stakeholders byleveraging on the relationships of all parties. On sustainability, the stakeholdersare government, NGOs, businesses, consumers and academia. SBF’sSustainability Development Business Group and the Singapore SustainabilityAlliance are our efforts to push sustainability as a leading business issue forSingapore. The Sustainable Business Awards is one way to recognizecompanies who are at the leading edge. The Awards honour businesses whichembrace holistic business practices that support the triple bottom line, namelyprofits, people and planet. Many of the entries we received this year areimpressive. They not merely operate at the intersections of these interests but

also showcase long-term strategies for continual innovation and growth. Thesefactors made up our judging criteria.The Sustainable Business Awards are supported by International EnterpriseSingapore, National Environment Agency, SPRING Singapore, NationalUniversity of Singapore, and our Knowledge Partner, KPMG Singapore.At this point, I would like to extend my appreciation to our distinguished panel ofjudges:• Mr Ted Tan, Deputy CEO, SPRING Singapore;• Mr Sharad Somani, Partner, Infrastructure Advisory and Head of ClimateChange and Sustainability Services, KPMG Advisory LLP;• Dr Michael Quah, Principal Fellow & Head, Energy and the EnvironmentDivision, National University of Singapore;• Mr Tham Po Cheong, Group Director, Infrastructure/Environment &Engineering Group, International Enterprise Singapore;• Dr Song Bin, Director, Sustainable Manufacturing Centre and Head ofSustainability and Technology Assessment Section, Singapore Institute ofManufacturing Technology; and• Mr Dalson Chung, Director, Industry Development &Promotion/Sustainability, National Environment Agency.Thank you for contributing your expertise and valuable opinion, and forrecognizing the next wave of sustainability leaders in our business community.To all participants, your enthusiasm and efforts in working towards long-termsustainable business goals is commendable. I hope that this exemplary showingwill in turn further spur the growth of a strong sustainable business community inSingapore.Have a good night ahead.