This year’s awards mark a major milestone in FLA’s efforts in the internationalisation of local enterprises
The Franchising & Licensing Awards (FLA Awards) 2019 was held on 24th October at Marina Mandarin Hotel in celebration of the milestone achievements of establishments in the local franchise and license industry, as well to accord due recognition to visionaries who have introduced innovative ideas and concepts, and to distinguish promising businesses and brands which have inspired others towards achieving excellence.
The gala dinner and awards presentation ceremony was graced by Guest-of-Honour Senior Minister of State Sim Ann,Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The FLA Awards was first launched by the Franchising and Licensing Association (FLA) Singapore in 2005 to recognise and honour outstanding achievers in the local franchise and license industry.
This year’s awards follow the recent launch of the Franchise Competence Framework (FCF) initiative aimed at assisting Singapore’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and improve their franchising and licensing strategy. The objective of the FCF initiative by FLA in conjunction with Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is to bring 100 local brands overseas to expand their presence beyond Singapore.
Supported by Enterprise Singapore’s Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme, the initiative will focus on the development of a competency framework, building franchise capabilities and facilitating internationalisation efforts of enterprises.
The FCF was presented at the Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation (APFC) Meeting on 22 October which received favourable feedback. Two other countries, Malaysia and New Zealand, will form a task force with Singapore to calibrate the framework for international usage before presenting at the World Franchise Congress (WFC) meeting next April.
Singapore’s FCF has been complimented as excellent, exemplary and timely. The reason for this is because franchises are now able to demonstrate self-regulation and capability development so that governments do not need to legislate and tighten the law further against companies.
A task force had been formed comprising the three countries to develop a structure to report to APFC and later WFC, which will be led by Singapore. FLA’s goal is to ultimately cultivate a pool of globally-competitive franchising and licensing players to strengthen Singapore’s position at the heart of franchising and licensing in Asia. FLA will work together with Industry associations in the F&B, retail, infocomm, education and service sectors towards achieving this vision.
