As was mentioned in the Chairman’s message our Institute was born at the time of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. It was also the beginning of a period of some high profile corporate failures and the emergence in Asia of increased interest in the value of good corporate governance, of transparency and disclosure, of shareholder rights and of the role and responsibilities of directors and specifically independent directors.
In its first 10 years of existence our Institute has focused its attention on the promotion of excellence in corporate governance, the basic training of directors and the promotion of effective board practices. It worked with a very small secretariat and relied much on the efforts of individuals and collaboration with various professional organizations, corporations, tertiary institutions and regulatory agencies. We owe much to these individuals and organizations, many of whom are being recognized this evening.
Many companies also rallied to our call for support and made the initial contribution that provided the necessary funding for our Institute. The names of these companies are listed towards the end of this publication. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and to say that our Institute has over the last decade been able to more than double this seed funding.
As we embark on the second decade of our formation a strategic review was under taken with objective of positioning our Institute to play an even more comprehensive role in the continued enhancement of good corporate governance in Singapore. Our Institute has always held that for Singapore to maintain and improve on its position as a leading global financial and trading center its corporate governance must rank amongst the best globally. To this end our Institute has played a sustainable, holistic and pro-active role, working in tandem with regulatory bodies and professional and investor organizations to promote a sound regulatory framework, forward looking board practices, director competence and independence, respect for all stakeholder rights and market integrity.
With this in mind, and recognizing the ever increasingly challenging global economic and financial environment, we have formulated for our Institute a new strategy and an initial implementation plan that will see the strengthening of our secretariat, the development of a broader continuing director training programme that will focus more on imparting practical know-how, expansion of director services and communication, more active regional networking and increased corporate and individual director participation and support.
As we seek to develop a truly world class director institute, recognized as amongst the best in class globally, an Institute for directors by directors, I join our Chairman in calling for even greater participation from both members and the corporate and investor community at large and look forward to your support.
John K M Lim
President
