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Speech at MOU Signing Ceremony Between YCH Group and WDA

Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower , YCH Group @ Fourth Lok Yang Rd

Employment practices Skills, training and development

Dr Robert Yap, Executive Chairman, YCH Group

Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive, WDA

Mr Bennett Neo, CEO, YCH Group

Mr Fang Chin Poh, General Secretary, NTWU

Mr Ong Chin Ang, Executive Secretary, NTWU

Distinguished guests,

  1. Good morning. I am pleased to witness today’s MOU signing between YCH Group and WDA.
  2. Singapore economy is going through a transition - to become more manpower lean with a stronger Singaporean core and a better quality foreign workforce.
  3. YCH is a good example as it competes with global players for global customers and at the same time, continue to strengthen local roots in Singapore. That is why I call YCH a “glocalisation” enterprise. It has kept strengthening its local root in Singapore even as it progressed to become a leading supply chain solutions company with a presence in over 100 cities across the Asia Pacific.
  4. In a tight manpower market, YCH competes aggressively for good people at all levels and also invests aggressively in them. 
  5. First, to be more Manpower Lean, it has invested in Supply Chain CityTM, a state-of-the-art warehousing facility. This allows the company to stay competitive in the ever-changing business climate.
  6. Next, to strengthen the Singaporean Core, the company has adopted SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme by WDA, and collaborated with Republic Polytechnic (RP) on local talent development.
  7. One participant in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme is Syaza Amirah Johan. She completed her Diploma in Supply Chain Management from RP and joined YCH as an Officer in the Outbound Operations department (OJT).
  8. Supported by various initiatives under SkillsFuture, she is currently undergoing OJT in outbound operations, to be followed by inbound operations, order processing and inventory management. Syaza can look forward to building a good career as an Operations Executive. I wish her all the best.
  9. Last but not least, to remain competitive, YCH and all our businesses need to be more future-ready.
  10. One way of becoming more future-ready is to be an early adopter of useful technology.
  11. An example is Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, which can improve productivity in areas such as item management and inventory tracking.
  12. As an early adopter, YCH is currently exploring the use of RFID solution with a leading retailer to integrate tracking and management of retail store and warehouse inventory; save manpower; create better jobs and reskill staff for better career development.
  13. The end outcome is better service and faster response to customers, especially during peak hours. I encourage companies to do the same.
  14. Another way of becoming more future-ready is to speed up the transfer of know-how from external sources of advanced expertise.
  15. We are good in many areas, but there are also many areas where we can learn from the global leaders and build up expertise in our own people across levels. This is an area of growing importance in our manpower development strategy.
  16. As we transit from a 3+1=4 to 1+2=3 economy, our challenge is to find new ways for companies to compete better in their businesses, and for our people to grow better in their careers.
  17. What we see here at YCH gives us a glimpse of the future of supply chain management. In fact, this future is relevant not just for YCH, but for the entire industry.
  18. Besides gearing itself up for the future, YCH also help others in the industry to upgrade and advance, through the setting up an industry training centre in the Supply Chain CityTM.
  19. This is a good example of a company-led effort to raise skills and capabilities for its industry, especially the SME players who will otherwise not be able to adopt structured workplace training due to limited resources. Thank you, YCH.
  20. In conclusion, for businesses to grow and stay competitive in the new economic landscape, a three-way partnership between unions, employers and the Government is critical.
  21. With this MOU, YCH will work closely with WDA and National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU). 
  22. With constructive tripartism, we have come this far in the past. Working together in tripartite partnership, I am confident that we can go even further in the future.
  23. So let us work in unity to create the jobs of the future, skills of the future, and careers of the future for the betterment of all.  
  24. Thank you and I wish you all the best.