OPENING SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE NANYANG BUSINESS SCHOOL’S CHINA EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMME ON 16 NOVEMBER 2013, 6.40PM AT THE MARINA BAY SANDS
Professor Ravi Kumar, Dean, Nanyang Business School,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. It gives me great pleasure to be here celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Nanyang Executive MBA Programme in Singapore.
2. Congratulations to Ravi, Gillian, Kok Hui, and the rest of the faculty and staff of Nanyang Business School on this incredible milestone.
3. A warm welcome back to Singapore to alumni who have flown in from China and other parts of the world.
Cultural understanding
4. The Nanyang EMBA programme was launched in 2002 to nurture ‘Global Leaders for the Asian Century’. This year, the programme has been recognised as the 13th ranked degree on the Financial Times’ list of Top 100 EMBA programmes globally. Amongst the key factors cited for this achievement were the programme’s ability to provide a rich international experience and a culturally diverse cohort.
5. As markets today become more global and interconnected, an understanding of cultures and customs beyond one’s own has become a necessity to effectively navigate one’s workplace. Cultural adaptability has become a prerequisite to doing one’s job well. Universities, being the gathering places for diverse minds and ideas, are ideal grounds for equipping students with such cultural intelligence.
6. The Nanyang EMBA has been designed with the global marketplace in mind. Through the Nanyang EMBA, high potential individuals from a variety of industries and backgrounds have connected and gained first hand insight and experience of global management culture and practice.
新中关系
7. EMBA 课程大多部分的学员和校友来自亚洲，特别是中国。自2002年，大约700名EMBA课程的校友已加入中国企业和公共部门的领先行业。这些校友也从中带动了南洋商学院和中国企业与学策者的关系，加强新中两国之间的合作关系。
8. 随着新中两国双边贸易和经济关系的加强，呈现了新的合作领域。在十月份举行的中新双边合作联合委员会 (Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation， JCBC) 中，双边提出了在金融服务，医疗保健，环境可持续发展和智能城市解决方案的合作。在今年五月份，中国工商银行的新加坡分行启动了人民币结算业务。通过合格的中国和驻新加坡的机构投资者，以及新加坡为外汇交易中心的优势，陆续也有新的举措公布，以进一步推动人民币的国际化。
南洋商学院和南洋EMBA 未来的角色
9. 我相信南洋商学院和南洋EMBA将会继续培育亚洲企业与政府机构的高层管理人员，帮助学员们发展文化智能，开阔全球视野和开拓商机, 在亚洲的崛起中扮演重要的角色。南洋商学院和南洋EMBA也将继续是新加坡和中国之间重要的桥梁之一。
10. 身为校友，我鼓励各位继续为学院作出贡献, 让学院与课程不断增长；譬如, 你可以帮助学院与你各自领域里的组织建立有益的联系。你们的支持能让学院促进各方面的发展。
11. 最后，我祝愿南洋商学院和南洋EMBA继续取得成功。谢谢。