4 AUGUST2022Editor NoteAlong with Indian Diaspora, Women Leaders also Thriving in Singapore Indians have built a strong presence in Singapore. Accounting for about nine percent of the total population in Singapore currently, Indians are the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in the country. Indians first arrived in country back in early 1800s. Since then they have consistently grown to bring about a strong impact on Singapore and its indigenous Malay culture as a whole. For the longest time, the Indian population remained transient in Singapore. However, things shifted in the mid-20th century and by then Singapore became home to a permanent Indian diaspora. The Indian population in Singapore has also been a major contributor towards labour force, professional class and business community alike.Today the Singapore corporate and business world has various professionals and entrepreneurs of Indian origin. Between 2005 and 2020, the number of Indian Employee pass (EP) holders increased from 13 to 26 percent, which is a significant increase. Indian professionals also benefit owing to their proficiency in spoken English. It is pertinent to note that the Indian professionals have also benefited greatly from the exponential growth experienced by the Singaporean digital economy. Trends in the global demand and supply for tech talent have also contributed to Indians making a mark in the Singapore corporate world. Speaking about the same in the Parliament, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, said, "The simple point is that while we have a good Singaporean talent pool, our pool is not large enough to fulfil all of the needs, the breadth and the depth of these enterprises. And very often also foreigners bring in skills which complement the Singaporeans' skill sets as well". The important factor in all of this is `skill set',something that Indian professionals possess in abundance, At this point it is also important to note that Singapore has taken great strides when it comes to working towards building a gender balanced corporate world. According to a new Deloitte report Singapore today has the highest percentage of women CEOs globally. The country has also successfully managed to increase its percentage of board seats held by women from being 13.7 percent in 2018 to 17.6 percent in 2021, from 13.7 percent in 2018. Women today form 33 percent of the entire workforce in the nation. The current edition of Women Entrepreneur Magazine shines the spotlight on some such women leaders of the Indian origin who have leveraged their skill set and capabilities to climb the ladder of success in the Singapore business landscape. We hope their stories inspire you. Do let us know your thoughts. Rachita SharmaManaging Editor
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