Contacts

Singapore, a Door onto Southeast Asia

, by Andrea Celauro, translated by Richard Greenslade
Andrea Costantini, chapter leader BAA in Singapore, tells about Bocconi Alumni activity in the city. The chapter functions as a focal point for the opportunities available in Singapore, and also for the potential contacts with the rest of the region

With over 5 million people in 640 km2, the second most densely popolate country in the world after the Principality of Monaco,Singaporeis one of Southeast Asia top financial hubs.Andrea Costantini, age 37, earned a degree from Bocconi in 2000 inEconomics and Business Law, and came to Singapore six years ago. Today he is CFO of an Italian shipping company, and a few months ago he bacame chapter leader of the city's BAA group .

In six years he has gotten to know Singapore quite well:"Despite the crisis, there are still many opportunities here, and like all sophisticated markets, there is great diversification in the company fimctions. In the financial field, one area that is growing is that of trading", he explains.

In a dynamic city like this, so far from home for Bocconians, one of the basic activities of the chapter i sto strengthen the sense of community. "There are about 2000 Italians and 120 Bocconi grads, a quarter of whom aren't Italians. We are busy with a targeted program of information to make sure they all know about the BAA's activities".

From this point of view, the Singapore alumni group's commitment is moved forward through partnerships with Italian businesses: "For development purposes, we want to reinforce the endorsements whin comapnies, so as to underline the idea that a chapter is not an isolated group but can represent a larger network of relations." Costantini stresses the city's potential: "Singapore is an open door onto a pool of 600 million people, so the presence of a BAA chapter here has an enormous potential in terms of networking".

Andrea Celauro