Deepavali Message 2022 from SICCI Chairman, Mr. Neil Parekh.

?????????????????? ?????????????? ???????? ???????? ????. Neil Parekh , ???????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????????????? ???????????? ?????????????? ???? ???????????????? ?????? ????????????????.

Happy Deepavali to all our members, well-wishers and all Hindus celebrating the festival in Singapore.

Deepavali celebrations in Singapore are now in full swing and I had the privilege of joining many community leaders at the Little India light up ceremony with our Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Heng Swee Keat this year.

The mood was not only jubilant amongst the attendees at the event, this was very much also evident amongst the businesses in Little India following the re-opening of borders and the lifting of vaccinated differentiated arrangements, particularly for the food and beverage industry.

All this has been possible due to the close cooperation that the various agencies have with the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to jointly emerge from the two years of pandemic and tough conditions that we all faced.

Businesses transformed and embraced new ways of doing business and attracting clients, both locally and abroad.

Digital transformation was the order of the day and will continue to play an important role in the survival of businesses and small & medium enterprises in the years ahead.

Many Indian families also ventured into home-based business models, and this continues to stand them in good stead even today as they have become household names for many to place orders with just a phone call or a WhatsApp message.

This will continue to be a priority area for me and my Board - to help our SMEs and the Indian business community to continue to evolve in this ever-changing business environment and at the same time to venture abroad to tap into the overseas markets.

Team members from SICCI’s Membership sub-committee are currently reaching out to the many Indian business Associations to discuss with them changes which they need to implement in their member companies to remain competitive. We will thereafter help them to devise training programmes and link them up with our SME Centre at SICCI to gain maximized advantages of the slew of training schemes and grants which our government agencies continue to roll out with Enterprise Singapore, and agencies under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

And secondly, we are in the process of organising business missions, first to our neighbouring countries and then to countries in the South Asian region.

Of late, SICCI has received several business delegations from India and Sri Lanka, and their leaders are keen to partner with companies here in Singapore to grow their businesses both in India and also in the Southeast Asian region. Sri Lanka in particular is keen to bring back investors with the return of political stability in the country.

May I take this opportunity to invite the Indian business community to work hand in hand with our Chamber in our upcoming business missions to further expand our overseas wings and grow the Indian business pie back at home and abroad.

I started off my Deepavali message describing the joy amongst our citizens and businesses as the celebrations continue. But let us not lose sight of the ever-changing health environment in Singapore and overseas and the need for all of us to be responsible and cautious as we continue to battle the Covid virus in its various variant forms. So, let us rejoice but at the same time uphold as many health protocols as possible.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Secretariat staff of SICCI, Happy Deepavali 2022!