And Sporns are made to pay for it even as they go hungry and are being replaced by FTrash! The stupidity of the goondus who insist on returning such a fxxk up govt to power is nothing short of AMAZING!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Agency helps other govts do things the S'pore way
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cassandra Chew
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Urban planner Surbana, through a deal forged by the SCE, is preparing a masterplan to develop Rwanda's capital, Kigali. -- PHOTO: SURBANA CORPORATION
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Starting next month, Singapore will help modernise fellow Asean member Laos' treasury, tax and customs systems.
Coordinating this effort is a little-known agency set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to share Singapore's governance expertise with other countries - the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).
In two years, the not-for-profit group has handled over 80 projects in some 20 countries from Libya to Russia and funnelled about US$40 million (S$58 million) into Singapore's economy.
=> How? By creative accounting like EDB paying half of FTrash's pay in MNCs?
The SCE has advised Bhutan on setting up e-government services, helped China with water treatment solutions and overhauled the public finance system in Qatar.
Each month, it receives about 10 foreign government delegations seeking Singaporean public sector expertise, usually in infrastructure development, masterplanning and water treatment.
Operating out of a 280 sq m office at Great World City's West Tower, the SCE's staff of 19 tap the expertise of 15 ministries and more than 60 statutory boards, as well as that of retired top civil servants.
They include former Housing Board chief executive Liu Thai Ker, 70, who in January last year offered masterplanning advice on a Saudi township project, and former Institute of Public Administration and Management director David Ma, 63, who in June wrote a public service research paper for Kazakhstan.
Chief executive Alphonsus Chia, 49, formerly the deputy chief executive of International Enterprise Singapore, said the SCE is currently funded by an undisclosed grant from the MFA and MTI, meant to last until it becomes self-sustaining, hopefully 'in a few years' time'.
It bills, on average, US$1 million to 'tens of millions of dollars', but it sees its main mission as 'opening doors for fresh partnership opportunities in new countries', not the bottom line, said Mr Chia.
'We want to trade with them, get to know them better, demystify these countries for our own companies and look at how these countries can do business in Singapore,' he explained.
A case in point is the SCE's strong partnership with Rwanda, which has led to many repeat businesses. The central African country's interest in the Singapore model began when its officials attended the World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings in 2006. Last year, it engaged the SCE to bring in award-winning Changi Airports International to improve its airport operations. That led to four more projects.
Earlier this year, the SCE helped set up the Rwanda Workforce Development Agency, which offers vocational training programmes. The agency is modelled after Singapore's Workforce Development Agency.
It also helped overhaul Rwanda's social security scheme, modelling it after the Central Provident Fund, and arranged the training of 20 Rwandan officials at the Singapore Civil Service College International.
In August, the SCE forged a deal between Rwanda and urban planning group Surbana to develop a masterplan for Rwanda's capital city, Kigali.
Singaporean Chong Fook Yen, 36, the Rwanda Workforce Development Agency's commissioner-general, said Rwandans admire Singapore's systematic and structured approach in implementing policies.
'Many Rwandans who have read the biography of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew have high respect for how he led Singapore to where it is today.'
The SCE's deputy director of international partnerships, Ms Anna Ng, 31, said Singapore represents hope and possibility to many developing economies.
'Laos' current gross domestic product is higher than Singapore's at independence in 1965. This gives its people confidence that Laos can be like Singapore,' she said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Agency helps other govts do things the S'pore way
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cassandra Chew
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Urban planner Surbana, through a deal forged by the SCE, is preparing a masterplan to develop Rwanda's capital, Kigali. -- PHOTO: SURBANA CORPORATION
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Starting next month, Singapore will help modernise fellow Asean member Laos' treasury, tax and customs systems.
Coordinating this effort is a little-known agency set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to share Singapore's governance expertise with other countries - the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).
In two years, the not-for-profit group has handled over 80 projects in some 20 countries from Libya to Russia and funnelled about US$40 million (S$58 million) into Singapore's economy.
=> How? By creative accounting like EDB paying half of FTrash's pay in MNCs?
The SCE has advised Bhutan on setting up e-government services, helped China with water treatment solutions and overhauled the public finance system in Qatar.
Each month, it receives about 10 foreign government delegations seeking Singaporean public sector expertise, usually in infrastructure development, masterplanning and water treatment.
Operating out of a 280 sq m office at Great World City's West Tower, the SCE's staff of 19 tap the expertise of 15 ministries and more than 60 statutory boards, as well as that of retired top civil servants.
They include former Housing Board chief executive Liu Thai Ker, 70, who in January last year offered masterplanning advice on a Saudi township project, and former Institute of Public Administration and Management director David Ma, 63, who in June wrote a public service research paper for Kazakhstan.
Chief executive Alphonsus Chia, 49, formerly the deputy chief executive of International Enterprise Singapore, said the SCE is currently funded by an undisclosed grant from the MFA and MTI, meant to last until it becomes self-sustaining, hopefully 'in a few years' time'.
It bills, on average, US$1 million to 'tens of millions of dollars', but it sees its main mission as 'opening doors for fresh partnership opportunities in new countries', not the bottom line, said Mr Chia.
'We want to trade with them, get to know them better, demystify these countries for our own companies and look at how these countries can do business in Singapore,' he explained.
A case in point is the SCE's strong partnership with Rwanda, which has led to many repeat businesses. The central African country's interest in the Singapore model began when its officials attended the World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings in 2006. Last year, it engaged the SCE to bring in award-winning Changi Airports International to improve its airport operations. That led to four more projects.
Earlier this year, the SCE helped set up the Rwanda Workforce Development Agency, which offers vocational training programmes. The agency is modelled after Singapore's Workforce Development Agency.
It also helped overhaul Rwanda's social security scheme, modelling it after the Central Provident Fund, and arranged the training of 20 Rwandan officials at the Singapore Civil Service College International.
In August, the SCE forged a deal between Rwanda and urban planning group Surbana to develop a masterplan for Rwanda's capital city, Kigali.
Singaporean Chong Fook Yen, 36, the Rwanda Workforce Development Agency's commissioner-general, said Rwandans admire Singapore's systematic and structured approach in implementing policies.
'Many Rwandans who have read the biography of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew have high respect for how he led Singapore to where it is today.'
The SCE's deputy director of international partnerships, Ms Anna Ng, 31, said Singapore represents hope and possibility to many developing economies.
'Laos' current gross domestic product is higher than Singapore's at independence in 1965. This gives its people confidence that Laos can be like Singapore,' she said.
