Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Minister for Trade & Industry, and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Professor Lily Kong, President of SMU
Distinguished partners from the Financial Sector and Institutes of Higher Learning
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Good morning. A very warm welcome to IBF’s second Financial Industry Fiesta. Special thanks to DPM for joining us today as our Guest of Honour. And thank you, Professor Lily and SMU colleagues, for hosting us in this wonderful campus.
Developing Young Talent
2. As the Jobs Development Partner for the financial sector, IBF seeks to build a skilled and future-ready workforce. This includes building a pipeline of young local talent to sustain the growth of our financial sector. In recent years, IBF has ramped up young talent development efforts with our partners in three key areas:
a. Firstly, the hiring and training of fresh graduates. Since 2023, over 57 financial institutions have committed to employ and train over 700 fresh university graduates through the Finance Associate Management Scheme. This provides structured programmes to prepare new hires for specialist and future leadership roles.
b. Secondly, industry exposures for students before they graduate and upon graduation.
i. Last year, at our first Financial Industry Fiesta, IBF convened 10 financial institutions and five polytechnics, to make available over 300 internship and traineeship opportunities for polytechnic talent in the next 2 years.
ii. During our 50th Anniversary celebration in 2024, graced by DPM, we conferred the IBF Golden Jubilee ITE Scholarships to 54 ITE students. These provided many ITE students their first internship exposures across 13 financial institutions and also added diversity to our talent pipeline for the sector.
c. Thirdly, work-and-study pathways. IBF has inked partnerships with NUS, NTU, SUSS and UOB last year, to explore accelerated work-and-study pathways for polytechnic talent.
All these initiatives are timely in creating multiple learning and career pathways for young talent, to access meaningful opportunities in the financial sector.
Financial Industry Fiesta 2026
3. Building on this momentum, at our Fiesta this year, we will look at emerging opportunities, the new skills and pathways needed to build job-ready young talent in an evolving AI-enabled world.
4. Today’s event is designed to give university and polytechnic students the latest insights on the financial sector: through fireside chat, industry booths and mentoring sessions. You will have the opportunity to hear directly from industry professionals, learn about financial sector careers, and better understand the training pathways available to you.
IBF as a Convenor Bridging Academia and Industry Collaborations
5. These efforts would not be possible without strong partnerships across the whole ecosystem. As a convenor, IBF brings together key financial sector employers, Institutes of Higher Learning, unions and government agencies, to bridge the connection between education and the workplace. Together, we co-shape curriculum, create industry exposures, and nurture the next generation to be more job ready upon graduation.
6. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all our partners, for your valuable support.
Closing
7. To our students in the audience, I encourage you to participate actively in today’s sessions. IBF and our tripartite partners remain deeply committed to groom young talent like yourselves, for meaningful exposures in the financial sector.
8. It is now my pleasure to invite DPM to deliver his keynote speech. Thank you.