Following up from the Covid-19 industry survey and series of Industry Sharing sessions held in March and April, AAIS organised a closed-door Industry Dialogue with government agencies on 6 May 2020. The purpose of this session was to hear more from the aerospace community on their business and workplace concerns as the situation and environment shifts rapidly. The session was moderated by AAIS Chief Executive Sia Kheng Yok and agencies were representated by Mr LIM Tse Yong Vice President and Head Capital Goods, EDB and Mr HO Chi Bao Director, Manufacturing & Engineering Cluster, Enterprise Singapore. Each gave an update on the actions their organisations have taken and will be pursuing to support businesses and economic activities through the duration of the pandemic and beyond.
Over 70 senior executives and managers from the AAIS membership participated in the online dialogue/ round-table. Participants were frank in expressing concern on the unfavorable business and industry outlook due to prolonged contraction and slow recovery, noting the retention of workers was a priority, given the aerospace demands skilled and certified talents. The agency representatives reiterated government supports and facilitation to keep businesses operating, as well as opportunities and bandwidth to retrain and upskill workers.
Participants and agency representatives also engaged in a frank exchange and mooted ideas on how to collectively address challenges and prepare for the post-pandemic world. A heartening note for the industry was that even in this global crisis, Singapore maintained a good reputation for a place to do business and as the “BCP” measure for global companies. Businesses were encouraged to start retooling for the future, for example, by looking into how advanced and digital technologies could be integrated into operations for better response, productivity and efficiency. The discussion also touched on the reopening of aviation, and how the landscape is likely to change.
We thank everyone for taking the time to join the dialogue and participating actively. For further feedback, please contact the Aerospace COVID-19 Taskforce at covidtaskforce@aais.org.sg .
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