Trade is the reason for Singapore's existence, and skilled talent is needed to entrench the country's position as a global trading hub, according to Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran. Mr Iswaran was speaking at the fifth anniversary celebration of the International Trading Institute at SMU (ITI@SMU), an event co-organised by SMU and IE Singapore. Mr Iswaran said that the government can do more to grow this talent pool. To this end, tertiary institutions play a vital role. SMU signed an agreement on Monday with SUTD to jointly develop a trading associate programme for SUTD students. This will allow the students to participate in study missions, site visits and internship opportunities driven by ITI@SMU. Since it was established in 2007, close to 200 local graduates from ITI@SMU have joined the trading sector. They are engaged in the trading of commodities such as crude oil, agricultural grains, metals and minerals.