In an inaugural joint initiative by Singapore and Japan to strengthen capacities and promote regional economic integration among APEC economies, 20 government officials from the APEC economies are in Singapore attending a 5-day training course on "Achieving Competitiveness in the Service Sector: Strategies and Lessons for APEC Economies" from 5 to 9 July 2010. Organised under the auspices of the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21), this is one of 19 courses that will be jointly conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) this year.
During his welcome address, Mr Jimmy Chua, Senior Deputy Director for Technical Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, affirmed Singapore’s fruitful partnership with JICA and noted that the course is the first in the joint capacity-building package of three training programmes (which includes two other programmes on trade and investment, and on management of trans-boundary health threats) conceptualised by Singapore and Japan to be implemented in 2010 for APEC economies.
The course, conducted by the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, addresses the strategic importance of promoting service competitiveness in both the local and international marketplaces, with focus on five key service sectors of health, telecommunications, finance, environment, and supply chain management and logistics. JICA provided a guest speaker, Mr Hajime Suzuki, to share insights with the participants on how Japanese service industries promote the productivity movement.
|
|
(Right) Mr Jimmy Chua, Senior Deputy Director for Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, welcoming Japanese guest speaker Hajime Suzuki, who was previously JICA Expert on the Singapore Productivity Development Project in the 1980s
Group photo of the participants of the course on Achieving Competitiveness in the Service Sector: Strategies and Lessons for APEC Economies
|
