PPR Blog

PPR Singapore Appoints Corporate Finance Specialist

Professional Public Relations Singapore has appointed corporate finance specialist Chin Lee Tan to head the firm’s newly established Investors Relations practice.

With more than 20 years experience in financial communications, Chin Lee has been hired to expand PPR’s investor relations practice in Singapore with the introduction of new client services focussing on restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and change management.

Prior to joining PPR Singapore, Chin Lee held senior positions with investor relations firms Wer1 and Citigate Dewe Rogerson i.MAGE.  In the late 1980s he spent two years covering the National Bank of Brunei fraud case for Reuters Finance, Miri Daily News and Lianhe Zaobao before joining the latter’s business desk in Singapore covering news on trade, economic development and information technology. He then spent the next four years as the Singapore and Indonesia correspondent with Forbes Zibenjia (the Chinese version of Forbes Magazine).

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility

by Andrew Laxton
Director, PPR Greater China

As the global demand for corporations to run their entire business operations in a more socially responsible manner increases, executives in Asia are now beginning to realise that true corporate social responsibility (CSR) extends way beyond charity engagement and publicity-driven cheque donations.

Over the past decade, companies that ran environmentally-friendly businesses were simply seen as making a moral and emotional connection with customers and shareholders. Being ‘green’ provided useful marketing publicity though, at the time, many viewed CSR investment as an unnecessary expense.

Not anymore. Climate change and environmental sustainability has made a quantum leap over the last 12 months, highlighted by a combination of frightening science and the formation of the Kyoto Agreement by the world’s most powerful governments committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The alarming increase in the price of oil has also forced many corporations to fast track due diligence and research on alternative fuel sources and ‘clean’ energy, while many automotive manufacturers are getting closer to mass marketing zero-emission vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Astute investors already realise that there is also serious money to be made by tackling climate change. The number of hedge funds investing in renewable energy and environmental technology is rapidly increasing, so to are the number of organisations offering carbon trading programmes to measure, neutralize and cut corporate greenhouse gas emissions. 

The list goes on and on but they all share one common end goal – and that is to facilitate a shift in mindset that will create a more sustainable economic and social environment for us all to live in. 

Effective Media Management

by Andrew Laxton
Director, PPR Greater China

Everybody in the public relations industry knows that the media is the fastest way to convey a powerful message to a large or select audience.

The popularity of web-based news portals and 3G technology allows coverage to travel the world in minutes and the growth of the media industry in countries such as China is nothing short of phenomenal.

The mainland now houses one of the largest media markets in the world with more than 3,000 daily newspapers, 8,000 magazines and 1,000 radio stations and TV stations.

Given that media liaison has traditionally been a fundamental communications tool that can deliver stunning results it amazes me how little attention is now paid to this dying art-form.