ibf, the singapore workforce development agency ( wda ), will launch a financial industry career advisory centre ( ficac ) in april that will provide guidance to those keen to join the financial industry as well as those looking to move to new jobs within the industry. ficac will also organise talks on job opportunities in the financial sector. these will help affected professionals, including women and working mothers, to find jobs suitable for their skills. we believe that industry professionals such as yourselves will be able to make significant contributions towards this initiative, and we urge you to participate in any way that you can. bis central bankers ’ speeches 20. as leaders in your respective companies, we hope that you will be welcoming to those looking to rejoin the industry, and acknowledge the experience that these professionals bring to the table. 21. thirdly, given the challenging environment in financial services, it is more important than ever for employees to take charge of their own learning, careers, and development. each of you can do much to encourage and institute training initiatives in your company, and to allow more time for employees to pursue further education in their specialisations. we look to fwa to continue being that strong influence in encouraging professionals to pursue continual rejuvenation, both in terms of skills and mindsets. celebrating successes 22. i am glad to say that many financial institutions are with us in the journey of developing talent in the sector. in fact, a number of them are institutional members of fwa, who not only are close partners with us in building a strong manpower pipeline, but are also especially supportive of nurturing female talents. 23. for instance, barclays, our host today, is the first bank in the world to join the united nations initiative, heforshe, which promotes gender parity in corporations. their many initiatives include “ women of the year ” programmes to recognise female employees for outstanding success, as well as their women ’ s initiative network ( win ) which provides a supportive platform for sharing and engagement among barclays employees worldwide. 24. amongst us, there are many women leaders who have blazed the trail in the industry. the moderator for today ’ s panel discussion, deborah ho, has had an illustrious career with financial institutions in asia and new york and is an ibf fellow. deborah serves on the committees of barclays ’ global investment bank diversity council and women ’ s initiative network. she is also barclays ’ representative on boardagender. 25. the list goes

emphasis on talent development, progression and retention in the industry. you may know that we have recently formed the financial sector tripartite committee ( fstc ), which i co - chair with mr patrick tay, assistant secretary - general, national trades union congress ( ntuc ). fstc brings together the industry associations, government and labour movement, to foster a financial sector workforce that is versatile and well - equipped to seize the opportunities and adapt to the changing needs of the financial services industry. our overall objective is to build a financial sector that not only reinforces singapore ’ s position as a major international financial centre, but most importantly, one that provides good jobs for singaporeans. 7. allow me to elaborate on our approach. 8. first, strengthening talent development for individuals to achieve their fullest potential. bis central bankers ’ speeches • mas works in close partnership with the industry to provide training pathways and training opportunities for singaporean finance professionals. the pursuit of continual learning related to financial sector competencies will help each and every one to attain mastery in their respective fields and achieve their fullest potential. • mas has a range of schemes to support the learning journey at all levels, from undergraduates and fresh graduates, to early / mid - career professionals, and to those in leadership positions. we have prepared a “ skillsfuture for the financial sector ” infographic that you can find at your table which provides more information on these schemes. 9. for example, under the finance scholarship programme ( fsp ), mas supports early - mid career singaporeans in developing specialist capabilities through post - graduate studies, in areas such as risk management, speciality insurance and quantitative finance. the recently launched financial sector skillsfuture study award will also provide an additional channel of support to enable individuals to upgrade their skills through a wider range of specialist programmes. 10. second, beyond competency - based training, cross - functional and international exposure is a key ingredient in building up leaders. we want to ensure that there are singaporean professionals taking up leadership positions in the key financial institutions. so mas works with many financial institutions to develop programmes for their singaporean professionals, for example, by enabling them to take up cross - functional roles, such as via finance associate management programs, or to take international postings for better exposure 1. last year, we launched the asian financial leaders programme, aimed at equipping senior financial sector professionals who are on the path to leading financial institutions in a variety of sectors including