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[13 April 2005]
UOB-SMU Entrepreneurship Alliance
An Initiative that Facilitates the Exchange of Knowledge
and Resources to Support the Growth and Development of Local
Enterprises and Academic Excellence in Singapore.
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), in collaboration
with the Singapore Management University (SMU), is pleased
to announce the establishment of the UOB-SMU Entrepreneurship
Alliance, an initiative that facilitates the exchange of
knowledge and resources and supports the growth and development
of local enterprises and academic excellence in Singapore.
The Alliance plans to raise S$3 million
in sponsorship by 30 June 2005 to kick off its activities.
It hopes to bring in funds from local businesses and individuals,
and pool them into the UOB-SMU Entrepreneurship Alliance
Fund (the “Fund”). Promising local enterprises
can tap on the Fund to partially finance business projects
undertaken by the SMU students; these students will work
on these projects under close supervision of SMU professors.
Taking the lead, UOB will match S$1 for
every S$2 raised, up to a maximum of S$1 million. UOB Deputy
Chairman, Mr Wee Ee Cheong said, “ Our involvement
in this project reinforces our commitment to the local business
and academic communities. We firmly believe in this cause
and want to play a key role in nurturing promising local
enterprises and the future talents in Singapore. Having helped
many small companies in their initial years and witnessed
many of them evolve into successful regional corporations;
we can identify with them, and want to play a part in facilitating
their development. We believe they are the key drivers to
sustainable growth in this part of the world.”
Through the Fund, the Alliance will organise
activities for the benefit of local enterprises and SMU students.
The main thrust of the Alliance would be business projects
mandated by the local enterprises , and
undertaken by the SMU teams. Other initiatives include networking
sessions, breakfast seminars, CEO Talks, workshops, executive
training sessions, CEO Mentorship Programmes, as well as
annual conferences and dinners.
SMU President, Professor Howard O Hunter
said, “This Alliance brings us closer to realising
our mission of enhancing teaching excellence and developing
a curriculum relevant to the knowledge-based economy. It
is an excellent platform to cultivate a mutually reinforcing
relationship between participative education and industry
needs by injecting the element of real life business exposure
for students.
“In addition, we are also able to
build a database of relevant local case studies from the
consulting projects for our teaching aids. More importantly,
this collaboration will open up more job opportunities for
our students who will be working closely with the local enterprises.”
Minister of Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam
said, “The UOB-SMU Entrepreneurship Alliance is an
excellent example of how the corporate sector can collaborate
with the Singapore universities to groom students with skills
that are relevant to the business world. Engaging in business
projects of this nature will help the students develop a
knack for thinking on their feet, and communicating effectively.
They will gain practical knowledge.”
The Alliance aims to nurture and strengthen
the business foundation of promising local enterprises to
meet the challenges of a globalised economy. Local enterprises
will no longer be constrained by limited resources - they
can now tap on the knowledge and expertise of the SMU teams
for new and innovative management and marketing strategies
to grow their business.
They can also enhance their knowledge through
case studies that highlight real and salient business issues
faced by other small businesses and the measures implemented
to address them. In addition, the other activities organised
by the Alliance are excellent platforms for these local enterprises
to network and exchange ideas and experiences. |
