New trade association hub aims to strengthen capabilities

THE more the merrier could be the slogan of the recently announced Trade Association Hub (TA Hub) scheduled to open by early 2017 and become both a work space and melting pot of ideas for local trade associations and chambers (TACs).

TA Hub, established by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI) and JTC Corporation at the old Jurong Town Hall, will allow the sharing of facilities and amenities among the 10 TACs permanently housed there to bring down operating costs.

Speaking at the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme 10thanniversary dinner earlier this week, Thomas Chua, president of SCCC, explained the rationale behind TA Hub: “The chamber’s objective is to cluster the trade and industry associations under one roof, learn from one another’s experiences and stimulate innovative ideas.

“The TA hub is not just an office space and activity venue, but can provide professional services and be a hub of activities. It can be used to bring in targeted training programmes beneficial to industry development, or even tap on shared resources to organise overseas networking activities,” he added.

Also present at the dinner was Singapore’s minister for trade and industry, Lim Hng Kiang, who said: “Besides more efficient resource utilisation through the availability of shared facilities, the co-location will catalyse more cross-industry collaborations amongst the TACs. This is an important mark of this step forward in collaboration among TACs.”

He also hailed the 10-year old LEAD programme as a key form of government assistance supporting capability development and growth for TACs.

The scheme was rolled out in 2005 and has supported around 160 industry projects with a total of about S$100 million (US$74 million) in grants, for 31 TACs.

The 10 TACs collaborating with SCCCI are: the Association of Electronic Industries in Singapore; Association of Singapore Marine Industries; Association of Process Industry; Container Depot Association (Singapore); Singapore Renovation Contractors & Material Suppliers Association; Singapore Cranes Association; Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association; Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association; Singapore Plastic Industry Association; and the Singapore Timber Association.

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