SME Leaders Back in the Classroom

SME leaders give thumbs-up for the advanced management programme by SMU

Bank financing and cost-cutting are key challenges facing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. SME leaders voiced their concerns at a panel discussion organised by SMU on 16 January 2009 in the week leading up to Budget 2009. Well known faces such as Ms Susan Chong, Managing Director, Greenpac; Mr Low Cheong Kee, Managing Director, Home-Fix D.I.Y; Mr Kenny Yap, Executive Chairman & Managing Director, Qian Hu Corporation Limited; and Mr Ivan Lee, CEO, Thai Express were engaged in a spirited dialogue together with Mr Png Cheong Boon, Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore, moderated by Associate Professor Annie Koh, Dean of Executive and Professional Education at SMU.

The occasion marked the graduation of the second batch of the SMU-SPRING SME Leaders Advanced Management Programme, an 18-day programme to help SMEs row their businesses into multi-national companies. Fifteen participants - mostly senior managers and executives - followed in the footsteps of their predecessor batch of 17 and came back to school to master skills such as strategy, brand management, financing and internationalisation. The programme is developed and delivered by the Office of Executive Education at SMU and funded by SPRING Singapore. The next run will be from July to September this year.