BT : Plans to draw business schools to Nepal Hill

Business Times - 04 May 2010

Plans to draw business schools to Nepal Hill

47,000 sq m of gross floor area available, including bungalows

By EMILYN YAP

A RUSTIC enclave at Buona Vista is aiming to be the centre of not just hard capital, but also human capital.

The government is pitching the idea of setting up shop at Nepal Hill to business schools and institutions specialising in talent development.

This is on top of earlier plans to attract hedge funds to the area.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) and JTC Corporation are working together to turn Nepal Hill into a regional centre for leadership training.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong first announced the project - Singapore Leadership Initiative for Building Networks and Knowledge, or Singapore Link - at a human capital summit in September last year.

'Singapore Link will bring together business schools, corporate universities and professional services firms in a single campus devoted to leadership and talent development,' Mr Lee said then.

'This clustering will strengthen the links between research, management and training, encourage corporations and academia to work together on real world challenges and facilitate the eventual adoption of new best practices.'

Nepal Hill is near Biopolis, Fusionopolis and Rochester Park, and is a 15-minute drive away from the central business district.

Some 47,000 square metres of gross floor area will be available for occupation, of which 2,600 sq m will come from existing black-and-white bungalows.

JTC, the master planner and developer of Nepal Hill, finished refurbishing the bungalows last year to house future tenants.

For institutions which require more space, land will be available through tenders.

Tenants will include the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), a tie-up between the Manpower Ministry and the Singapore Management University. HCLI will conduct pan-Asian research on human resource issues and offer training on leadership and management.

The authorities did not reveal which other schools and institutions it is in talks with.

BT spoke to some human capital firms, which expressed support for the concept at Nepal Hill.

Hewitt Associates's South-east Asia market leader Kulshaan Singh said there has been no proposal for his firm to take up space at Nepal Hill.

'The idea is attractive as it brings us closer to the human resource community,' he noted.

Accenture also said it has not been formally approached to move, but its Management Consulting Innovation Center is nearby at Fusionopolis.

'Accenture is looking forward to playing a role in the HCLI,' said its partner for the talent and organisation performance practice in Asean, Rick Smith.

There are other institutions which have heard of the concept at Nepal Hill, but have no plans to relocate for various reasons.

'It is certainly an attractive idea to be in a hub where there is critical mass for any potential collaboration or cross-fertilisation of ideas through physical proximity and social networking,' said Aon Consulting's director of consulting for South-east Asia, Na Boon Chong.

In fact, Aon Consulting knew of the Link idea some time back and decided to set up its global research centre in Singapore.

But it will not be moving to Nepal Hill because it is located with two other Aon divisions in town.

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which has a campus near Somerset MRT station, is also aware of plans at Nepal Hill.

'The idea of clustering is something with which we are familiar and we can see its advantages,' said its associate dean for Europe and Asia, Glenn Sykes. But he added that the school prefers to be located downtown.

Another business school, Insead, has a campus at Buona Vista near Fusionopolis.

Neither EDB nor JTC revealed the number of institutions or the size of investments they aim to attract to Nepal Hill.

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.



Artist's impression of Nepal Hill: The Economic Development Board and JTC Corporation are working together to turn Nepal Hill into a regional centre for leadership training. The enclave is near Biopolis, Fusionopolis and Rochester Park