Opening Remarks by Mr Chng Lay Chew Chairman, Singapore CFO ...

and adding concerns about the slowing down of the world’ssecond biggest economy.5. On a slightly brighter note, we have seen a slowturnaround of the Japanese economy, with its efforts to endyears of deflation. Our Singapore economy posted modestgrowth of 0.2 percent in Quarter 1. There is also someevidence of growth in the US.6. Although the global economy may not be very clear now,there are early signs of things turning around. This is the besttime for CFOs and companies to start preparing for theeventual upturn in the global economy.The Singapore CFO Institute7. As a CFO myself, let me share with you my thoughts on ourrole as CFOs.8. During the crisis, we have been mainly focused on riskmanagement and preserving liquidity to ride out the crisis.Post crisis, we have to change our mindset and re-toolourselves. We have to partner our CEOs and the businessunits to strategize and execute opportunities to grow.Planning an optimal capital structure and raising capital ordebt to support the growth will become increasinglyimportant. Strong communication with internal and externalstakeholders will continue to be a critical attribute of CFOs.We have to be nimble to navigate through the transition