On how competitive Singapore is as a financial centre, SMU Vice President, Business Development & External Relations, Associate Professor Annie Koh commented that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam's call for finance professionals to be nimble and smart is timely. We need deep knowledge of regional culture and challenges, and also deep industrial knowledge (of trading and maritime finance activities) to complement our strengths in these areas, knowledge of infrastructure projects (power plants, solar energy, roads, ports and cities etc) and the understanding of where growth is coming from the region – growing middle-income wealth and cross-border financing challenges. She added that the ability to work with a cross-border network of central bankers, other regulators, and knowledge and understanding of peculiarities (legal, cultural, political and religious) in diverse regional markets, and alignment with global standards and requirements will serve to build Singapore's comparative advantage as a global financial centre.