#FridayFive from the Executive Director: 17 April 2026

#FridayFive for 17th April, another excellent week at the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore (BritCham). Here’s what you knead to know…

1.  Bilateral Brilliance: Co-hosted a roundtable with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) Chariman Cheong Boon Png, discussing Singapore’s business landscape, future plans, ASEAN, balancing the workforce, connectivity and committement of British business, AI and tech, healthcare and energy infrastructure. Thank you to the EDB team for hosting, and to our RT guests: Andrew Hodgson, Ryan Lim, Alexander Harrison, Yan Vermeulen, Raymond Ng, Jay Thiyagarajan, Muralikrishna S Hari, Keith Choy, Ian Macdonald, Giovanni Spadaro, Geraldine Y., Chandran Jayabalan, Chakib Abi-Saab, Stanley Ong, Ramesh M G , Alister Beck, Eugene L., Roland Salameh.

2.  Really important: I attended the Ministry of Defence of Singapore Supportive Employers’ Networking and Dialogue Session with SMS Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, and Co-Chair of ACCORD. Good to see Alexander Barton - 安磊, Hsien-Hsien Lei, Meng Wai Mun, Federico Donato, OMRI, and Ping Soon Kok, as we discussed how businesses can support those going through their NS requirements. The Chamber remains committed to supporting this initiative, and see the benefits of what NS training provides to employees when they return to the workplace. Two great presentations from @Deutche Bank and HP, and also thinking caps on about supporting smaller businesses that make up for around 70% of hiring in Singapore. 

3.  Eurocham to Airbus: great to reconnect with Nele Cornelis from Airbus this week. We talked about geopolitics, whats coming up in the year, and how the Chamber can support. Dominic: Hope you like the use of your models!

4.  Advancing conversations: Its always a pleasure to catch up with Suwei Jiang 姜甦唯 from PwC, as we both have a passion for supporting UK trade in APAC. Thank you Suwei for popping in, wearing a number of hats including the UK-ASEAN Business Council, and look forward to seeing you back in London in June. A raft of other meetings including a brilliant catch up call with Shevaun Haviland and Kate Shoesmith from the British Chambers of Commerce, a great pulse-check with Haslam Preeston, and fab to meet with Mark Celenk from John Swire & Sons Limited. 

5.  Driving the green agenda: We held a green maritime working group meeting. Some excellent discussions around regulation and creating mandated demand, where SIngpaore and the UK are leading in this area, and how the Chamber can promote the best of green maritime technology in Singapore. As we step into Maritime week next week, we’re in scoping mode to bolster our plans. 

Lastly, it is the last day of the Life Sciences Trade Accelerator sign-up today, so please do contact Steven Lynch MBE, Eve Halliday.

See you at Singapore Maritime Week next week!