New board at Singapore Indian Chamber focuses on recruitment, gender diversity

THE NEWLY elected board for the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) has placed recruitment and gender diversity atop its priorities for its two-year term.

Led by Modern Montessori International chairman and chief executive T Chandroo, the new board for the 2018 to 2020 term will include three women directors for the first time in the history of the trade group, which began in 1924 as the Indian Merchants Association.

In materials given to the press, SICCI said that it aims to have women occupying at least a third of its 17 board seats eventually. It is also setting up a women-run committee to increase women membership and to drive women-focused entrepreneurial and leadership programmes. To attract more women members, the Chamber is offering a reduced fee for the first year for up to 100 women members.

The Chamber also plans to sharply increase its membership, from 550 currently to 2,000 within the next two years. To do so, the Chamber plans to reach out to more than 8,000 Indian companies in Singapore, and has set up an outreach team to carry out that mission.