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Media Advisory Singapore Launches Southeast Asia's Singapore Government Gives Local Printing Industry a Boost. SINGAPORE, 22 December 2006 - Singapore will be regional centre for the first Print Technology Institute in Southeast Asia by end January 2006. The SCI PRINT TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE is an initiative by local print entrepreneur Mr Almond Ko and supported by SPRING Singapore. The school is established to support a trade that is fast losing skilled workers and to tap on latest digital technologies that will give Singapore printers even greater competitive edge in the world market. SCI Print Technology Institute's Founder and Chairman Almond Ko says, "With increased low-cost competition from Asia, and a lack of improvement in our print industry, international clients are starting to look elsewhere to print their work. It is pertinent to upgrade our technical skills by tapping on Singapore's digital edge to give customers work quality and efficiency unrivalled elsewhere." "There is currently no such school or academy providing formal training to supply skilled labour in the region. The school marks a first in providing relevant training for workers in this trade," adds Ko. SPRING is looking to shape the print industry as a career option for more students, including those from around the region to take up training and possibly stay on in Singapore as trained personnel to meet the shortfall of skilled workers. There are currently more than 900 printers in Singapore, employing a total of 18,000 workers. With the school, SPRING also hopes to provide retraining programmes to equip older workers with up-to-date technologies to stay relevant in the industry. In addition, the school targets mature workers without printing knowledge and can be taught basic skills so they can be employed in more labour-intensive portions of the printing industry. "There are tremendous growth opportunities for Singapore's printing industry, especially for the high-end export market. To cater to the more sophisticated market segment, development of manpower must go hand-in-hand with investment in technology. The latest software and state-of-the-art machinery require professional and structured training of workers. SPRING Singapore supports the SCI Print Technology Institute to provide a pipeline of skilled manpower for our printers. This would boost our SMEs' capabilities and enhance the industry's competitiveness in the international market. In the longer term, it would also strengthen Singapore's position as a hub for high quality printing," comments Mr Chow Tat Kong, Group Director, Enterprise Development Group, SPRING Singapore. SCI Print Technology Institute The institute will initially focus on pre-press training, which includes design skills, graphic software skills and colour matching for print. The school will provide printers with crucial technical and digital expertise in order to maintain Singapore's position as a global market leader in colour separation. Students will graduate with a National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (NITEC) from the Institute of Technical Education Singapore (ITE) for full-time and part-time courses. There will be short-term skills upgrading courses for workers already in the industry too. The course fees will be reimbursable under the Skills Development Fund (SDF) scheme so that printers may readily consider sending their staff for skills upgrading. The SCI Print Technology Institute is also endorsed by the Print & Media Association of Singapore (PMAS) and supported by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and National Trade Union Congress (NTUC). Details of the courses offered may be found on www.SCIprint-institute.com.sg. The first course will begin on 22 January 2007. Interested companies are invited to call SCI Print Technology Institute at 6542 6863 to find out more about the courses and to attend the introductory seminars which will be held on 29 December 2006 and 8 January 2007. +++ For media enquiries, please contact: |
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