Topic: Global Mindset and the role of training in the development of the Singapore economy. What is a Global Mindset?

You were brought up with a set of belief and virtues and instilled in you when you attended schools, a set of processed guide of what is right or wrong. Culture and religion contributed significantly to this. Though it is not wrong to behave and act this way, it will only be detrimental in this fast paced and vibrant economy. In order to be competitive and relevant today, we have to think global and act global. Thus without any knowledge of the outside world, we can only limit ourselves to stay home and be self sufficient !lobal mindset is a combination of awareness of the diversity across cultures and openness to differences with the ability and propensity to synthesi"e across this diversity. What is Globalization? #ating $ld Chang %ee curry puff in India& Thats a very good e'ample of (ingaporean going !lobal. (hould we only restrict ourselves to suit local, we will not have the world market to penetrate. If we think that curry puff can only be appreciated here, we will not dare to venture out and thus the limitation of ) million consumers only. *owever, if we go global, think of the whole world as the consumers& Thus in this day of running a business, one cannot help but running it globally for survival. !lobali"ation is the natural thing that can happen with the rapid advancement of technology and ease of getting information and communication. +ith these accesses, the encouragements and trade agreements, the economy have become one. !lobali"ation is going worldwide and get connected and integrated to the rest of the world. How global mindset and Globalization fit within a KB ! The knowledge based economy, where knowledge is the driver and enabler, is full of dynamism and rapid growth. ,s said before, the easy access to worldwide information and sharing, the assets now shift to this wealth of knowledge. *ow the business is run changes dramatically with the mobility of information - staff, portability of system and e'pertise. In (ingapore, the impact of globali"ation is the influ' of the foreign talents where initially, most of us are .uite apprehensive towards the government direction. +hen /0Cs are relocating their plants out of here due to real estate and labor cost considerations, we encourage outsiders to work here thus minimi"ing the 1ob opportunities here. This is only in the short run. The long term gain will be, we are pushing our standards up and improving with the world within our shores on top of creating network around the world when these people leave. This will invite new investments, as the key business driver will be human capital. 0ew investments will create 1obs, which re.uire higher skills. The rapid advancement of technology makes what we have learned and ac.uired irrelevant in the shortest period of

time. Thus in order to be relevant, we need to upgrade and staying ahead with our workforce. In the nutshell, we need to remain employable. +ith this ob1ective, training plays a big role in order to achieve it. +e have to e.uip our workforce with not 1ust the competencies, but also hone their competencies to be globally relevant. The workforce is re.uired to possess certain types of soft skills since they may be relocation overseas or working together with someone outside from here. ,s trainer, first and foremost, it is imperative that we have the global mindset. +e need to focus on employability of the workforce in the future rather than 1ust current need. +e must be an influence rather than teacher. +e must e'cite them to be responsible of their learnings rather than spoon feeding them with information. This, we hope will create a workforce, not only relevant but also staying ahead of their times.