Treasury Insights sits down with Isuzu treasurer and new Association of Corporate Treasurers (Singapore) President, Seng Ti Goh, as he reveals his plans for the role.
What made you want to take on the role of president at the Association of Corporate Treasurers (Singapore) (ACTS)?
I am passionate about corporate treasury and because of my unique background in banking, hedge funds and corporate treasury, I believe that I can pass on to the treasury community my experiences from a diverse background. Perhaps it is a uniquely Asian trait, but we have a saying in Chinese: “When quenching your thirst with water, remember its source (饮水思源).”
I also think that I have some good ideas that we can try and implement to bring ACTS to greater heights. For example, we can certainly be more adventurous and adopt technology to attract and appeal to new members, many of whom are millennials. In general, the ACTS is doing a great job, with the fantastic EXCO team and amazing Secretariat, but we must admit that we are a little lacking in the techie department.
How do you feel that you can add value to the treasury community in Singapore?
It is about content, content and content. The ACTS sponsors and endorses many events and seminars, such as Treasury Today Group’s Women in Treasury initiative, and often many interesting facts and helpful advice are lost after the event. We can improve this by using technology and building a database so that ACTS members can search and retrieve these valuable insights and opinions.
Also, treasurers strive on knowledge and networks and, as the role of corporate treasury continues to evolve, having knowledge of domains outside of treasury becomes increasingly valuable. To that need, ACTS can help its members by reaching out to other associations, groups and professional bodies, helping to build a broader network for our members.
To provide a theoretical example, if the CFO asks about fintech and how relevant is it for the organisation, as corporate treasurers we must understand not only the treasury solutions and financials in the fintech solutions, but we must also understand how that technology works.
You cannot propose a distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution without understanding how Blockchain works. ACTS will therefore try to reach out to many different bodies and associations that are relevant to our work, creating a network where our members can have easy access to information. It is not easy, but I think that this is a solution where everyone benefits.
What are the key issues that you will be tacking as president of the ACTS?
We are going to create a new Members Outreach team. This will comprise of the younger members, so we can find out how we make the ACTS more appealing and relevant to the younger generation.
Next, we need to continue our collaboration with our partners including the banks, service providers and industry watchers like Treasury Today. These partnerships are crucial to the ACTS and it is important that we continue to develop them.
Finally, the ACTS has arrived at a juncture whereby we need to further enhance our reputation and create a stronger identity. How do we do that? We are looking at creating a flagship event that is solely organised by ACTS, where the best minds in treasury meet. Can we do it? It will not be easy, but yes we can. And we need our partners and members to continue supporting us to fulfill our vision.
What do you want the ACTS to look like at the end of your presidency?
It is not only my wish but also everyone in the EXCO, that we hope ACTS will continue to be of relevance to our members. And we all hope too that ACTS will be an essential association for our members, and an essential collaboration for our partners. For anyone who thinks about Corporate Treasury, we want ACTS naturally to come to mind first. It might be a long journey, but I think with the EXCO, members and partners, it is not an impossible dream.
