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Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Nearly 1 in 2 business leaders in S'pore ready to tackle geopolitical and other challenges: Report
Kroll surveyed 1,200 C-suite executives from more than 20 markets including the United States, Britain, Hong Kong and Singapore in February. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO Nearly 1 in 2 business leaders in S'pore ready to tackle geopolitical and other challenges: Report SINGAPORE – Business leaders in Singapore are among the most confident globally about their level of business preparedness when it comes to dealing with challenges ranging from geopolitical tensions to cyber-security threats and developments in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. In its first edition of the Business Sentiment Report, global risk and financial advisory firm Kroll found that 48 per cent of respondents in Singapore were 'very prepared' to face the challenges. This is higher than the 34 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region and 38 per cent globally. Kroll surveyed 1,200 C-suite executives from more than 20 markets such as the US, Britain , Hong Kong and Singapore in February . About one-third of all those surveyed work in the financial services industry, and more than one-fifth are in technology companies. The report highlighted geopolitical tensions, such as tariffs, as one of the most significant business challenges facing organisations over the coming year. The survey was conducted before US President Donald Trump slapped 'Liberation Day' tariffs on economies on April 2, which he then put on hold as he strikes trade deals with different nations. Singapore runs a goods trade deficit of US$2 .8 billion (S$3.6 billion) with the US, according to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative. This means that the Republic imports more goods than it exports. As a result, businesses here would not have expected to be slapped with tariffs, said Mr Joshua Tucker, senior geopolitical adviser at Kroll. Singapore was hit by a baseline tariff of 10 per cent. Mr Tucker said business leaders here were probably a bit too optimistic about their ability to predict the US policy on tariffs. The survey had found that 22 per cent of Singapore business leaders identified geopolitical tension as a significant business concern, compared with 33 per cent globally and 28 per cent in the Asia-Pacific. Insead economics and political science professor Pushan Dutt believes business sentiment should have since shifted substantially after the imposition of the tariffs. 'One school of thought is that we will live in a Taco (Trump Always Chickens Out) world – that his bark is worse than his bite and he always backs off. However, what Trump has induced in the global economy is uncertainty,' he said. He explained that Taco-like behaviour increases uncertainty as firms and political leaders will not be able to ascertain how long the tariffs will be imposed for, if and when they will be lifted and how the conditions and types of tariffs could evolve. 'We should distinguish between risk and uncertainty – the first is about known unknowns and the second is about unknown unknowns. We have been catapulted into a world of uncertainty and should not live in denial,' he added. Mr Tucker said that while tariffs, like other direct business costs, can be factored into decision-making, there are other indirect costs stemming from uncertainty over the US tariff policy. If businesses do not know what tariffs will be in 30 days, six months or a year, they will not be able to plan ahead to mitigate the effects of tariffs . They may thus be less willing to take large risks, make acquisitions or enter new markets, he added. Mr Nick Baker, co-lead for trade and customs at Kroll, said companies risk falling into 'analysis paralysis', where they are constantly reassessing strategies but not taking action to implement their plans. Mr Tucker noted that Singapore is heavily dependent on trade with other economies. The 10 per cent baseline tariff on the Republic , as well as higher tariffs on neighbouring economies, could thus have an 'outsized economic impact on businesses'. Kroll stated in its report that whether companies can weather the 'economic and geopolitical upheaval' will depend on their underlying financial health. Singapore companies scored relatively well on this front, with 20 per cent of business leaders here saying they have full confidence in their companies' financial health, versus 9 per cent of respondents in the Asia-Pacific and globally. Ms Annabelle Cai, managing director in the restructuring practice at Kroll, said 'strategic measures' announced in Singapore's Budget 2025, such as the 50 per cent corporate tax rebate, enhanced wage support for lower-income workers, and more funding support for firms to make AI investments, will help firms to manage rising costs and drive sustainable growth. A stable government and business-friendly environment contribute to business confidence in Singapore, Ms Cai added. On the whole, Dr Huynh Bao Tan, senior lecturer of economics at the Singapore Management University, stresses that while Singapore is impacted by the imposition of the tariffs, the 10 per cent levy is imposed across the board, and hence will likely have minimal impact on Singapore's relative competitiveness overall. 'Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if businesses' sentiment has dropped a little (from the time the survey was conducted), but I'm not really expecting things to have changed much,' he said. 'Markets seem quite hopeful that there'll be good outcomes regarding the trade negotiations,' he added, referring to the US trade talks with China as well as the European Union. Additional reporting by Megan Wee Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China's AI play is rewiring Asean's manufacturing game
[SINGAPORE] As the US and China race to dominate artificial intelligence (AI), Beijing's industrial-first approach is quietly redrawing Asia's tech landscape, opening doors for Asean manufacturers and shifting the region's centre of gravity. At Insead's AI Forum Asia last week, economists said China's focus on applying AI to real-world sectors like precision engineering and healthcare, rather than chasing software dominance, could accelerate tech transfer to South-east Asia, especially as geopolitical rifts deepen. Since launching its 'Made in China 2025' strategy, Beijing has used AI to push its manufacturing sector up the value chain, lifting industries like electric vehicles and solar energy in the process, said Dr Pushan Dutt, professor of economics and political science at Insead. Dr Dutt explained that China's approach stands in contrast to US tech companies, who have prioritised a push towards software supremacy through a strong talent pool and widespread implementation across business needs. For instance, Dr Dutt noted that 40 notable AI models in the last ten years had been developed in the United States, more than double of the 15 models developed in China. In addition, AI infrastructure in the US remains far stronger than in China, with ten times more data centres and four times more spending on AI servers. 'Yet 70 per cent of patents in the AI sector are coming from China,' Dr Dutt noted. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up 'China is much more pragmatic in solving social problems such as manufacturing and healthcare, whereas the Americans have spent more time on knowledge diffusion,' he said. The Asian giant's acceleration of its AI ecosystem is as much a response to external pressure as it is an internal strategy, Dr Dutt explained. He noted that rising US export controls on semiconductors and advanced computing tools have only pushed China to innovate more aggressively. Natural partners In addition, US trade policies under Trump could change the way AI technology spreads geographically. 'Trump's policies could also trigger China to build its own alliances within its sphere of influence, which might mean exporting more of its technologies to Asia and the Middle East,' said Dr Lily Fang, professor of finance and dean of research and innovation at Insead. One of the regions that stands to benefit directly from this realignment is Asean, Dr Fang told The Business Times. South-east Asia's strong manufacturing base makes it a natural partner for Chinese AI solutions, particularly in areas such as precision engineering and industrial robotics. While leading US models such as Open AI's GPT-4 and Anthropic's Claude remain closed source, Chinese AI developers have lowered barriers toward more widespread cross-border adoption, Dr Fang noted. DeepSeek, for instance, has released its model weights, source code and documented its training methodologies. 'These countries will be competitive because they have both the hardware and software capabilities,' Dr Fang added. Evolving infrastructure South-east Asia's infrastructural capabilities for AI, such as energy and data centres, have also made the region increasingly attractive to Chinese firms as domestic supply reaches bottlenecks. Still, the region's AI capabilities have not developed on equal footings, said Kevin Pereira, managing director at the AI consulting firm BluAI. 'There are big differences in infrastructure across South-east Asia,' he noted. 'If you don't have good infrastructure, no matter how good the individual products are, using AI becomes really difficult.' For Asean countries to capitalise on their strengths, these economies will need to evolve with the times, Dr Fang noted. 'For South-east Asia, perhaps the most important step is to upskill the workforce beyond lower-end manufacturing,' she said. Such upgrading does not necessarily mean widespread loss of jobs in manufacturing, Dr Fang noted. 'For example, tasks that rely on the dexterity of human fingers will not be replaced by robotics,' she said. 'But certain tasks that may be dangerous, tiring or repetitive can be done by robots instead, allowing humans to focus on more meaningful tasks.' The need to upskill was echoed by the forum's keynote speaker Andrea Phua, senior director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's digital economy office and lead author of Singapore's AI strategy that was launched in 2023. While Asean's lower-end manufacturing jobs are likely to witness meaningful development, Phua noted that white collar jobs across several sectors would likely experience significant disruption. 'AI is transforming the newsroom, the courtroom, the factory floor and laboratories,' said Phua. 'The shifting of value chains will be a painful conversation that requires a hard look,' cautioned Phua. 'On top of technological innovation, business leaders will have to introduce organisational and bureaucratic innovation to keep moving forward,' she added. She noted that while optimism towards AI technology is not misplaced, the speed of change demands a mindset shift across the labour force. 'When AI development moves at the pace that it does, our learning needs to happen in weeks, not even months,' she said.
Business Times
30-04-2025
- Health
- Business Times
Sodexo, Insead partner Montfort Care to help seniors eat healthier meals
[SINGAPORE] Armed with a rice cooker and ingredients such as chicken and chopped shiitake mushrooms, a chef from Sodexo conducted a live cooking demonstration for about 60 seniors at Goodlife Studio (Bukit Purmei), an active ageing centre by Montfort Care, on Tuesday (Apr 29). Chef Iskandar Zulkarnain, who is also an account manager at Sodexo Singapore, was a volunteer at the pilot initiative of Sodexo and Insead's community programme, SG60: Doing Good Through Food. The programme aims to teach seniors how to make healthy meals, and meal kits using healthier ingredients were provided. Abel Ariza, managing director at Sodexo Singapore and Malaysia, said: 'One of the main reasons why we wanted to put this initiative together is because we wanted to do something that stays over time and impacts seniors positively. We thought about not just meal delivering – which is what we normally do – but also helping to upskill the ageing population through a cooking class. Hopefully, they can take some of the learnings back home.' Both Sodexo and Insead collectively delivered more than 3,600 meal kits last year to marginalised communities. Ariza stressed the importance of using healthier options that impact seniors' health positively. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up Soy chicken rice was chosen because it is a 'staple' in Singapore, he added, and it is 'relatively easy to cook in a setup like this', making it easier for seniors to pick up this skill. Liew Zi Qi, senior programme executive at Goodlife Studio (Bukit Purmei), Montfort Care, said: 'Learning healthy cooking is very important, so that they will be aware of their own condition to (accordingly) match the correct diet.' Supporting seniors' independent living James Middleditch, senior director of operations and campus services at Insead, said this initiative will enable seniors to live more independently. More seniors now live alone – a Ministry of Health report stated that the number grew from 58,000 in 2018 to 79,000 in 2022, and this figure is expected to continue rising. 'Singapore has an ageing population, but also a low fertility rate, so now we're getting this imbalance. You're going to have smaller families taking care of seniors, so more and more seniors will be obliged to live independently. Supporting them in this journey – giving them knowledge and skills – will enable them to live a much more fulfilled... life,' he noted. Liew added that there has been an increased focus on preventive healthcare, especially in Singapore's current ageing society. 'At an early stage, it's important to share with seniors how to keep up a good and healthy lifestyle. At this active ageing centre, we encourage them to live healthily and stay active,' she said. These participatory sessions with Sodexo chefs also help to tackle social isolation – another issue that seniors living alone face. Sodexo and Insead plan to roll out more events to benefit the community throughout the year. SG60: Doing Good Through Food builds on Sodexo and Insead's past community initiatives, which included a waste management programme and farm-to-table demonstrations. It is also part of Montfort Care's Good Makan! initiative, aimed at empowering seniors through food, confidence-building and social connection.
The Guardian
11-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Former solicitor general: UK's miscarriage of justice watchdog is ‘beyond a joke'
The former solicitor general and conservative peer Lord Garnier has said the situation at the miscarriage of justice watchdog is 'beyond a joke' and leaves 'a big hole in our criminal justice fleet'. Following revelations in the Guardian about the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)'s spending on expensive French business courses for its chief executive and allegations about its 'absent' leadership, Garnier said it was time to ask the justice secretary: 'Have you got a grip on this?' The Guardian reported on Monday that the chief executive of the CCRC, Karen Kneller, had regularly attended Insead business school in Fontainebleau over the past five years, including a course whose fees are advertised at more than £21,000 for 10 days' teaching. Helen Pitcher, the former chair of the CCRC, held multiple positions at Insead while Kneller attended these courses. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it would be appointing an interim chair 'as quickly as possible' to conduct a thorough review of how the organisation operates. Garnier, who co-chaired a Westminster commission into the CCRC, was one of several figures calling for an overhaul of the body in light of the reporting. Making reference to a photograph of Pitcher by a motorboat in Montenegro, which she posted during the crisis over the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson, Garnier said of the dysfunction at the top of the organisation: 'This is a big hole in our criminal justice fleet, I hate to give a nautical term with her boat in Montenegro, but this long ago got to the stage where it's beyond a joke. 'We're talking about human misery for poor Mr Malkinson and other possibly wrongly convicted people in prison. It can't just be a joke show. It can't be a circus. It's got to be a properly functioning organisation, and it's essential. We discovered that way back after the Birmingham Six.' Garnier, who belongs to the parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice, questioned why it was necessary for Kneller to attend multiple expensive Insead courses which 'presumably teaches you all sorts of things, but not necessarily how to run the CCRC'. He said he was 'unpersuaded' that it was 'a good use of public money'. He added: 'There will come a time, and I think it's happening right now, when the secretary of state for justice must pull her finger out and get this sorted out, because it can't just dribble on.' The Guardian revealed that Kneller was accused of attempting to 'sanitise' an independent review into her organisation's handling of Malkinson's case. In response, Malkinson said: 'I am not sure how much more of this my battered psyche can take. In 2018 the incoming CCRC chair was told she needed to fire the CEO to redeem that organisation. Instead, she allowed the CEO to go off to Fontainebleu on fancy training courses while people like me sat behind a door in prison night after night, waiting for the CCRC to act. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'The CCRC's arrogance and incompetence cost me 10 extra years in prison, and I am not the only one. Surely the Ministry of Justice can see that it is over for the current CCRC? Overhaul it now.' Matt Foot, co-director of the legal charity Appeal, which was behind Malkinson's exoneration, said: 'For years campaigners and lawyers have been saying that the CCRC does not investigate cases properly. We were told that resources were an issue. These revelations of lavish management spending show that it was not about resources but priorities. The CCRC urgently needs a completely new senior leadership team with a track record of challenging injustice.' A spokesperson for Pitcher said she 'was appointed to overhaul the leadership, processes and governance of the CCRC and her progress towards those goals was acknowledged in every appraisal during her tenure. It is for others to take the CCRC forward now.' A CCRC spokesperson said: 'The CCRC carries out extremely important, challenging work in an often-difficult environment. 'We note that there have been criticisms of us, particularly recently. The hard-working CCRC team remains focused on finding, investigating, and sending potential miscarriages of justice back to the courts; six people have had their cases referred since the start of last month. 'It is not unusual for leaders of high-profile, national organisations to attend advanced management courses.' An MoJ spokesperson said: 'Given the importance of the CCRC's work, we will appoint an interim chair as quickly as possible who will be tasked with conducting a full and thorough review of how the organisation operates.'
The Guardian
10-02-2025
- The Guardian
CCRC chief spent public funds on luxury hotels for business courses in France
The chief executive of the miscarriage of justice watchdog spent thousands of pounds of public money on luxury French hotels while enrolling on courses at an elite business school at which her organisation's then chair held positions. Karen Kneller, the chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, is known to have regularly attended Insead business school in Fontainebleau over the past five years. Kneller's stays included a director's course whose fees are currently advertised at more than £21,000 for 10 days' teaching over three trips, as well as a week-long programme on 'digital disruption and innovation'. She also took a three-day 'Leading from the chair' course in 2021, the fees for which are currently £7,500. Helen Pitcher, the former chair of the CCRC, held multiple positions at Insead while Kneller attended these courses, including as president of the business school's directors network board. Pitcher resigned from the CCRC this month, saying she had been 'scapegoated' over the Andrew Malkinson case after an independent panel ruled she was no longer fit to be chair. Malkinson spent 17 years in prison for a 2003 rape he did not commit. Now, as the organisation charged with considering whether a dossier of new evidence in the case of Lucy Letby merits a return to the court of appeal, the CCRC is expected to come under renewed scrutiny. Some staff have raised concerns that the organisation's leadership is not up to the task. Kneller has returned to Insead regularly, most recently staying in a luxury room at its in-house four-star hotel for a week's training in December. The Ermitage hotel includes a terrace bar overlooking the Fontainebleau forest, a fitness centre and squash courts. Course fees do not include the cost of staying at the hotel, at up to £194 a night, or travel, which is all understood to have been covered by the CCRC. Some of Kneller's Insead courses were in London but the Guardian understands that most were in France. As chief executive and accounting officer, the CCRC says Kneller is 'responsible for safeguarding the public funds allocated to us, and for ensuring propriety and regularity in the handling of those public funds'. One staff member said there was a clear 'conflict of interest' in Kneller being sent on courses at an institution Pitcher was involved in 'at a location that is vastly more expensive than very similar courses available in the UK'. A government source said the spending did 'not reflect the new government's expectations of the best use of the CCRC's funding'. A spokesperson for Pitcher said the Ministry of Justice had approved the business case for Kneller to attend Insead. They also said that all external interests, including Pitcher's association with the business school, were 'fully declared according to CCRC guidelines'. Pitcher's roles at Insead while Kneller attended courses included being president of its directors network board and chairing its Directors Club Ltd until October 2022. Pitcher was also on the executive committee of Insead's alumni association and vice-president of its global clubs until July 2023. Insead was rated Europe's top business school by the Financial Times in 2024 and describes itself as the 'business school for the world'. Pitcher said in her resignation letter that 'the main criticism' made of her by the panel that decided she was not fit to continue as chair centred 'on whether I 'sufficiently challenged the performance' of the CEO and some of the staff she was responsible for'. In a statement to the Guardian, a spokesperson for Pitcher said she had been told on arrival at the CCRC to remove the entire senior management team, but decided that 'wasn't viable' and instead chose to 'mentor and train senior staff', delivering improvements that were acknowledged in every appraisal. 'Staff surveys [during Pitcher's tenure] were invariably positive, other than the responses of a small group known to the CEO and her top team,' they said. The Guardian revealed this month that Kneller had been accused of attempting to 'sanitise' an independent review into her organisation's handling of the Malkinson case. After that story broke, staff were told by Kneller in a weekly briefing that it was a 'return to business as usual' and that 'nothing has changed and there is no news'. An independent review last year found that the watchdog missed multiple opportunities to help Malkinson. Chris Henley KC found Malkinson could have been exonerated almost a decade earlier if the CCRC had properly understood the forensic evidence. Kneller was director of casework when the CCRC undertook what Henley described as 'very poor' work on Malkinson's first application to overturn his conviction. Leading legal figures have described her position as being 'completely untenable', after more than two decades at the organisation. Kneller and the CCRC were approached for comment. A government spokesperson said: 'This training course was wholly funded from within the CCRC budget. Arm's-length bodies' training spend which exceeds £10,000 must be approved by the sponsoring department and is subsequently approved by the Cabinet Office.'
