Interview with Amreeta Eng, Group Director

Amreeta Eng
Group Director, Trade Promotion Group
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore
1. Tell us a little about IE Singapore’s current key objectives?
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is the Singapore government agency that promotes international trade and
partners with Singapore companies as they go global.
Trade has always been the backbone of Singapore’s economy. In addition to promoting the export of goods and
services, IE Singapore also attracts global commodities traders to establish their global or Asian home base in
Singapore. Today, Singapore is a thriving trading hub with a complete ecosystem for the energy, agri-commodities
and metals & minerals trading clusters, with up to 80% of the world’s top oil & gas and metals & mining companies
that trade, process and/or manage logistics for commodities in Singapore.
IE Singapore also works with Singapore-based companies in their various stages of growth to expand their
international footprint. Singapore’s high growth companies are a critical growth engine for the next phase of
Singapore’s development.
2. Why do you feel Singapore is such an attractive hub for international companies looking at setting up operations
in Asia?
Singapore is a proven market place and the leading hub for global commodities trading in Asia. Singapore offers the
right mix of essential attributes for effective commodities trading and value creation:
• An extensive and diverse marketplace.
• Quick and easy access to physical flows and infrastructure. Singapore provides the physical infrastructure and
world-class logistics that help businesses to maximise the profitability of their commodities trading. It is ideally
located at the heart of Asian trade routes close to many of the world’s major growth economies. In the LNG space,
apart from throughput services, Singapore’s LNG terminal is able provide cool down services and storage and reload
services.
• A sophisticated financial infrastructure. Singapore is one of the world’s top 3 financial hubs alongside London and
New York. It offers global firms competitively-priced trade financing, sophisticated risk management solutions and
access to leading insurance companies. As a global financial hub with over 500 financial institutions, Singapore
provides for 25-35% of trade finance for commodities trading in Asia.
• A highly skilled and culturally adaptive talent pool. 47% of the Singapore workforce has a tertiary education and 72%
are literate in at least two languages. As the most liveable city in Asia, Singapore continues to be one of the most
attractive cities for expatriates.
• A strong, reliable, and transparent legal and regulatory framework.
• A stable political environment that supports long-term business planning.
3. What are the key initiatives and aids in place to help promote opportunities for Singaporean companies
currently working abroad or looking at setting up operations to do so?
IE Singapore supports Singapore companies across a diverse range of sectors. With an expansive reach across the
globe, and a network of more than 35 overseas offices across 6 continents, IE Singapore provides market intelligence
and connections for Singapore companies. Amongst other things, IE Singapore also organises business missions,
industry roundtables, and seminars, to bring Singapore companies and global markets closer to one another.
We are here to partner Singapore companies to develop capabilities and internationalise, global traders to grow their
business in Asia and facilitate possible collaborations between Singapore companies and the global traders.
4. What are you expectations from the Summit, and why have IE Singapore been a supporter for so many years?
Events such as the CWC LNG Asia Summit are a testament to the vibrancy of the LNG cluster in Singapore. The event
brings together global traders from various regions to discuss key issues that impact the industry, strengthens
relationships and builds commercial ties. With the opportunities in Asia, we believe that the conference will continue
to grow in Singapore.
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