The "SME Credit Bureau Conference" aims to share with small and medium enterprises the business value of greater transparency in the reporting of their companies' credit-related information - and gain their understanding of the bureau.
Singapore - Infocredit D&B (Singapore) Pte Ltd, The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), SPRING Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation are jointly organising the SME Credit Bureau Conference , themed "Achieving Business Growth with Credit Transparency" at the Raffles City Convention Centre on 21 March and 22 March 2005.
The conference aims to educate local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the roles and benefits of a credit bureau for SMEs. Speakers from the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong will share their experiences on the role and benefits of a business / corporate credit bureau in their countries / financial centres, where such bureaus have been set up and successfully served the business community.
A central national database containing relevant and objective credit-related data on SMEs will provide an avenue for these companies to evaluate and ascertain their creditworthiness and financial strengths and weaknesses, with a view to smoothening one of their greatest challenges - financing for the growth and expansion of their businesses. Such a credit bureau will also enable banks, financial institutions and trade credit providers to make more informed decisions when evaluating loan applications from SMEs
William Lim, executive director of Infocredit Holdings Pte Ltd, adds: "With the government's emphasis on fostering entrepreneurship and encouraging local enterprises to expand regionally and globally, greater credit transparency will help local enterprises with their funding requirements to fuel their growth. We hope that this conference will serve as a springboard to generate awareness on how SMEs can help financial institutions better evaluate their financial needs - through greater credit transparency."
Says Lawrence Leow, president of ASME: "The SME Credit Bureau will not only serve as an additional tool for ASME to further advance the interests of our members and all SMEs in Singapore, but will also fit into a broader spectrum of applications to serve the wider business community here. ASME, with the assistance of Infocredit D&B, will kick-start the drive to encourage SMEs to practise transparency when reporting their financials and also educate them on the benefits of the Bureau as another avenue that aids their financing plans. It is our hope that the overall confidence in SME lending will be substantially enhanced through the setting up of the SME Credit Bureau, thereby easing access to financing for all SMEs in Singapore."
Singapore's first-ever SME Credit Bureau will be launched at the conference with Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry as guest-of-honour. Dr. Balakrishnan will also be making the keynote address at the conference.
The other speakers specially flown in to share their experiences on the role and benefits of an SME credit bureau with local companies include Joachim C. Bartels, chairman and owner of information services consultancy Intrepid Explorers, Inc., Roger Vandomme, director, International Analytics for Asia, Canada and Latin America, of U.S.-based risk management solutions provider Dun & Bradstreet Canada, and Maisie Chan, director, Credit Bureau Solutions / Data & Operations, Dun & Bradstreet (HK) Ltd. The local speaker is Loh Kok Choy, Vice Chairman - Finance Action Crucible Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE).
The conference is supported by the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. |
