Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 67 July 2018 - Page 9 Message from the Executive Director Olivia Widen Executive Director, British Chamber Of Commerce, Singapore With the launch of the second edition of our digital Orient, it is exciting to see the continuing growing interest and readership of the magazine. This year, we have made a commitment to transform the way we communicate with members and the platforms in which our members can engage with each other. Moving to an enhanced digital platform has allowed us to identify where your interests lie, thereby better equipping us to ensure we are curating and building an agenda of activities and events at the Chamber that more accurately reflects this. Equally, now able to include much more interactive content, we hope this will not only allow members to absorb and experience knowledge sharing differently, but it will further provoke conversations beyond the pages of the magazine.
As part of the transformation of the Orient, we have also taken the opportunity to highlight what are Business Group committees are discussing and driving as topical issues within the Chamber. Under our ‘Lets Discuss’ section this month, the Diversity and Inclusion committee share their views on the importance of Mental Health in the workplace.
The topic of inclusivity in the workplace has also been the focus of our interview with Karen Loon, Partner and Asia Pacific and Singapore Diversity Lead for PwC. Specifically, the critical role inclusion should be playing in a company’s broader talent management agenda.
Talent management is in the minds of many members at the Chamber and at the forefront of our agenda this year with our Future of Work Campaign. During these past months we have been sharing thought leadership from members on the topic. Our Built Environment and ICT committees moreover jointly held an event on the future of work and living at the Funan show suite to explore the development of and thinking behind smart spaces. Watch this space for more on the Future of Work.
As always, our events calendar has been extremely busy. We have been fortunate enough to have a number of special guests to some of these events, including Mr. Ravi Menon, Managing Director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Charles Bowman. Looking ahead, we are excited to have announced and launched our Great British Ball on the 30th November, partnering with the British Club to showcase British excellence against the backdrop of the festive season. Be sure to book your tables early!
Finally, I wish to end my message by welcoming the appointment of Ms. Natalie Black as Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific who will be taking up her position in September. Based in Singapore, we look forward to working closely with her to continue to provide trade support and promote the ASEAN region to British companies