TRAINING CENTRE FOR BANK OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

Mr Lim Boon Heng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry, in view of the need to upgrade the quality of our international and regional financial services, whether there are plans to set up a training centre to enable local bank officers and employees to acquire the requisite skills and periodically to enhance such skills.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam): Mr Speaker, Sir, the financial community with the encouragement of the Government established the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) in 1974 to meet the training needs of officers and employees working in the financial sector. Since its inception, the IBF has organized a series of training courses relating to banking, finance and the management of financial institutions. It has also organized seminars and conferences to upgrade the skill and sophistication of staff in the financial sector.

The activities of the IBF can be broadly classified as follows:

(1) The IBF Diploma course. This is a two-year broad-based executive development programme leading to the award of the IBF Diploma in banking and finance.

(2) Structured programmes for specialized areas of finance. One example is the comprehensive 10-week foreign exchange training scheme to train foreign exchange dealers in order to alleviate the current acute shortage of such personnel.

(3) Ad hoc courses on subjects of topical interest. These include talks and seminars on topics such as financial futures and the international banking system.

The IBF will be introducing two new courses, one on gold trading and the other on financial futures. These are aimed at training dealers in futures trading and equipping the financial sector and the public with the knowledge of the futures market. The IBF is also studying the feasibility of organizing developmental training programmes to impart basic banking skills such as credit analysis, international banking, loans syndication and funds management. All these courses will benefit our local bank officers and employees and help them to do their job better.