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Singapore Business Federation Annual Report 2008 Singapore Business Federation Annual Report 2008• the pre-Budget 2009 Dialogue inNovember organised by SBF, REACH(formerly known as the FeedbackUnit) and Ministry of Finance to gatherviews from the business community inpreparation for the Budget Statement.• CEO Boardroom Talk helmedby outgoing SBF Chairman, Mr.Stephen Lee on reflections on theNWC Guidelines 08/09 in June.• the dialogue with Dr. KenchiOhmae on Growing Singapore’sBusiness and Investment Hub forCompetitive advantage• two SBF Business Voice & SentimentSurveys in Q4, the results of whichprovided the motivation for SBFto facilitate a meeting betweenthe business community and theMinistry of Trade & Industry andMinistry of Finance on the concernsand challenges that businesseswere facing.Briefing on Amendments to theEmployment Act, 26 November 2008b. Advocacy and TripartismThe advocacy and tripartite process of businesses working in alignment with governmentand the unions to enhance the business and operating environment was evident in thefollowing policy briefings:• Briefing on Proposed Work Injury Compensation Act (January)• Members’ Dialogue on Guidelines for Audit Committee (February)• Singapore Tripartism Forum – Dialogue on Employment & Employability Challenges (April)• Briefing on National Wages Council Guidelines 08/09 (May)• Employers Briefing on First One-Stop Information Portal for Re-employment (August)• Work – Life Conference 2008 (August)• Briefing on Proposed Amendments to the Employment Act (September)• Briefing on Enhanced Marriage & Parenthood Package (September and October)• Pre-Budget 2009 Dialogue Session (November)These events were attended by 7,378 participants.c. Regional/Multilateral CooperationAsia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) MeetingSBF participated at the APEC meeting in Peru in November which was attended by PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong. In conjunction with the meeting, SBF led a 14-man businessdelegation to evaluate possible partnerships with their Latin American counterparts in Peru,Brazil and Chile. SBF Chairman Tony Chew noted that “as a non-traditional market, LatinAmerica offers great potential as many of the sectors are still in the emerging or infant stageof growth.” Singapore’s trade with the region grew 13.7 per cent to US$8.89 billion in 2007.APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)Under the ABAC 2008 theme “Mind the Gap:Making Globalisation an Opportunity for All”,the business-led council conducted a seriesof meetings to address issues pertinent to theAPEC business community. ABAC representsthe private sector consultative arm of theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.The Singapore ABAC members are Mr. TengTheng Dar, (also Co-Chair of ABAC 2008),Ms Chong Siak Ching, (also Co-Chair of theLiberalisation Working Group), Mr. Ng SerMiang (till November 2008) and Mr. Tang KinFei (from November 2008).SBF serves as the ABAC Singapore Secretariatand provides support to the ABAC Singaporemembers at ABAC meetings as well as atvarious APEC Senior Officials and WorkingGroup meetings.At the conclusion of the 2008 ABAC meetings,Singapore assumed the Chairmanship ofABAC, with Mr. Teng Theng Dar serving asChair of ABAC 2009, Ms Chong Siak Chingas Chair of the APEC 2009 CEO Summit andMr. Tang Kin Fei as Co-Chair of the SustainableDevelopment Working Group.ABAC’s recommendations to APEC Leaderswere presented at the Annual ABAC Dialoguewith Leaders in Lima in November 2008, andsubsequently reflected in the 2008 APECLeaders Declarations.The key issues raised were:• An urgent need for a successfulconclusion of the suspendedDoha Development Agenda.• Recognition of the excellentopportunity for Pacific regionalintegration, with the Free TradeArea of the Trans-Pacific afeasible path towards achievingthe Bogor Goals.• A call to APEC Leaders toimprove confidence in the creditand capital markets to avoidfuture financial market turmoil.• A call to APEC to continue tomake SME development apriority given the vital role thatthey play in APEC economies.• To resist protectionist measuresand inject substantial fiscalstimulus to help revive theailing global and regionaleconomies.Through the ABAC process,businesses can look towardsimproved market access in the Asia-Pacific region, and further reductionin business costs by way of:• Greater trade and investmentliberalisation and facilitation.• Increased ease of doingbusiness via structural andregulatory reform• Enhanced connectivity throughimprovement of trade logisticsand supply chains.• Increased support for SMEs incapacity building and financing.2008 ASEAN Business & InvestmentSummit & ASEAN Business AwardsThe 2008 Summit held in Bangkok inFebruary 2009, saw the call by the ASEANBusiness Advisory Council, of which SBFCouncil Member, Mr. Robert Yap is theCo-chair, for the grouping to recommendto the ASEAN Leaders that an ASEAN fundbe created to allow companies ready togo regional and global to have access toaffordable financing.At the ASEAN Business Awards (ABA),held as part of the Summit, five Singaporecompanies vied for honours alongside 23other finalists from the region. Three of theSingapore finalists – Keppel Offshore andMarine Limited (Larger Size Companies– Employment), Network Express CourierServices Pte Ltd (SMEs – Employment), andCherie Hearts Group International Pte Ltd(SMEs – Growth) emerged winners in theirrespective categories. As the Secretariatof ASEAN-BAC Singapore, the SingaporeBusiness Federation (SBF) was instrumentalin facilitating the entries of Singaporecompanies for this award.22 Review of 2008Review of 2008 23