SME ACCelerate Launch

Event Details

Against the backdrop of the Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom Exhibition at Gardens by the Bay, we will also be celebrating America's Fourth of July at this exclusive, invitation-only event.

Through SME ACCelerate , the AmCham community of MNCs and SMEs will work together to support the stability, sustainability and growth of SMEs – a vital part of our economy. Our offerings include Mental Well-being; Women-led Businesses; Digitalization; and SME Connect & Learn.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at sme@amcham.com.sg. We look forward to seeing you at the launch.

Please take note of the following:

Due to safe management measurements, only 20 seats are available. Only one representative per company will be eligible to attend.
After registration, if you are no longer able to attend the event, please let us know by Monday, June 28, so we can offer your seat(s) to those on the waitlist.
No-shows who do not inform us in advance will be charged $100 .

Speakers

Ms. Low Yen Ling

Minister of State at Ministry of Trade and Industry

Mr. Lam Yi Young

Chief Executive Officer at Singapore Business Federation

Mr. Rafik Mansour

Chargé d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy, Singapore

Jeff Paine

Managing Director of Public Sector (PS) Engage

Ms Low Yen Ling was elected as a Member of Parliament for Chua Chu Kang GRC in the 2011, 2015 and 2020 General Elections. She is presently the Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). Prior to that, she was the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Education (MOE) from 2015 till July 2020 and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) from 2018 till July 2020. She had also previously held office in the Ministry of Social and Family Development (2013-2015), MCCY (2014-2015) and MTI (2015- 2018).

Ms Low began her career in the private sector with experience in financial institutions and a start-up venture. Thereafter, she joined the Singapore Economic Development Board and in her decade of service, played a key role in strengthening Singapore’s entrepreneurial landscape and professional services sector. In 2011, she became Chief Executive Officer of Business China, an organisation nurturing Chinese biculturalism, bilingualism and collaboration with China. With her strong bicultural and bilingual background, she spearheaded unique programmes to immerse business leaders in China and deepen young Singaporeans’ knowledge of modern China.

Drawing on her strong ties with the local business community, Ms Low is presently Advisor for the Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) SME Committee (SMEC) and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SCCCI) Trade Association Committee (TACOM). She also serves on the multi-agency national SG Clean taskforce to uphold high standards of public and personal hygiene beyond Covid-19. In addition, Ms Low is Chairperson of the Mayors’ Committee and Mayor of South West District.

With a heart for the underprivileged, Ms Low continues to serve as a board member of the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) where she steers its Student and Parent Education Committee to expand the organisation’s reach and support to low-income students and families. Under her leadership, CDAC and its partners have established more than 20 Big Heart Student Care centres island-wide to provide after-school care to students of all races. Ms Low also contributes in the area of education as a member of the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Executive Committee.

In her past role as MOE’s Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ms Low led the ministry’s efforts to strengthen students’ foundation in their learning of the Chinese language. In her capacity as Chairman of the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL), Vice-Chairperson of the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism, and Advisor to the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL), Ms Low expanded the breadth and depth of public outreach programmes that attracted increased participation from pre-schoolers, youths and parents.

Ms Low also spearheaded the drive to improve communications and public awareness of SkillsFuture, the national lifelong learning movement. These efforts were synergistic with her responsibility as Senior Parliamentary Secretary of MTI where she aligned the government’s SkillsFuture thrust with several Industry Transformation Maps (ITM) to help businesses meet the challenges of a changing economy. At MOM, Ms Low advanced the interests and skills of workers, focusing on older Singaporeans, women and young graduates.

As a mother of two school-going children, Ms Low spends the free time she has mostly with her family.

Mr Lam Yi Young is Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the apex business chamber championing the interests of the Singapore business community in the areas of trade, investment and industrial relations. SBF represents more than 26,000 companies, as well as key local and foreign business chambers.

Prior to joining SBF in Jul 2020, Yi Young spent 24 years in the Singapore Civil Service, including 11 years in Senior Public Sector Leadership positions like Deputy Secretary (Industry) in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Deputy Secretary (Policy) in the Ministry of Education, and Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Yi Young sits on the boards of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Global Compact Network Singapore, SBF Foundation, SIM People Development Fund Limited, SBF Holdings Pte Ltd and SBF Connect Pte Ltd, and is a member of the Donor Relations Committee of the Community Foundation of Singapore. He also previously served on the boards of various statutory boards, companies, real estate investment trust, universities, research institutes, charities and clubs and societies.

Yi Young has a Master of Arts in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, Chargé d’Affaires Rafik Mansour arrived in Singapore in July 2019. He oversees the 24 U.S. government agencies represented in Singapore, working to strengthen our bilateral ties ranging from security cooperation to our robust economic relationship. Prior to his assignment to Singapore, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia.

From 2014 to 2016, he was the Senior Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, helping lead PD efforts, policy, and resources in 50 EUR countries. Other assignments include Public Affairs Officer in Libya and Algeria, Cultural Counselor in Iraq and France, Political Officer in Italy, and Political/Economic Officer in Russia. He started his Foreign Service career as Vice Consul in Haiti.

Mr. Mansour is the recipient of numerous Superior and Meritorious Honor awards from the State Department. He was also the runner-up for the 2009 Edward Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy for exemplary use of soft power in combating violent extremism in Algeria.

Mr. Mansour obtained a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in French Literature from the University of California, Irvine. He received a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. He speaks Arabic, Russian, French, Italian, and Creole.

AmCham's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Committee Co-Chair

Jeff Paine is the Managing Director of Public Sector (PS) Engage which aims to help organizations build better relationships with their regulators, have more impact in the communities they operate in, and develop partnerships to help realize exponential gains in their core business activities. Prior to establishing PS Engage, Jeff was the Head of Government Relations for Southeast Asia for Visa Inc. In this capacity he is responsible for developing constructive engagement activities to develop and maintain relationships with public sector professionals in ASEAN.

Prior to working with Visa, Jeff Paine worked at Microsoft as Director of Public Sector Partner Business where he was responsible for driving revenue via the Microsoft partner ecosystem that supported governments across Asia Pacific. While at Microsoft, Jeff successfully managed multi regional projects for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and spearheaded the implementation of Microsoft’s global Government Engagement efforts in Asia. He also led Microsoft’s public sector team in the development on an innovative executive program for government leaders, academics and Microsoft executives in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore in Singapore.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Jeff was Director of Business Development for Central Asia Development Group (CADG), a private development organization involved in the implementation of infrastructure, agriculture, and economic development projects in Afghanistan and which partners with various agencies such as USAID, World Bank, UN agencies, and other donors.

Jeff was involved in the successful implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation projects in southern Afghanistan valued at more than US$30 million between 2002 and 2005. In 2006, Jeff spearheaded the expansion of CASG by establishing the organization’s presence in South East Asia in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Jeff also has experience in the financial services sector having previously worked at Reuters Financial Services as a Business Development Manager and as an Institutional Foreign Exchange Dealer for the Royal Bank of Canada in Singapore, Australia, and Canada.

Jeff holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University in the U.S.A. He attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he has completed a diploma program on Innovations in Governance.