By Francis Chan

OPENING its doors to international students has helped the Singapore Institute of Management's (SIM) global education unit hit the top of a key business ranking here.

The unit - SIM Global Education (SIM GE) - is the standout in a list of high-performing firms compiled by DP Information (DP Info).

DP Info, a business and credit information group, compiles an annual league table that ranks firms by their compounded annual revenue growth rate over three years.

About 8,000 firms, from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to larger corporates, were assessed before the release of the Fastest Growing 50, or FG50, as the ranking is called.

Winners over the years tend to be firms that have flourishing overseas operations, and this year's top performers again underlined the trend.

FG50 stars, like SIM GE, are vigorously tapping foreign markets to offset the downturn at home.

As well as topping the ranking, SIM GE is the first company from the education sector to be represented in the award's eight-year history.

DP Info managing director Chen Yew Nah described the firm's achievement as remarkable.

'It's a great and interesting success story. SIM GE is a good example of the success of the Government's strategy to make Singapore an education hub, attracting quality students from overseas to study in a world-class environment.'

Ms Kathy Lai, assistant chief executive of trade agency International Enterprise Singapore, added: 'This clearly highlights the importance of internationalisation for Singapore companies' growth.'

SIM was set up in 1964 - with seed funding from the Economic Development Board - to train junior managers and supervisors for multinationals based here. Its unit, SIM GE, offers a wide range of academic programmes in partnership with universities from the United States, Britain, Australia and Switzerland.

Today, it has a pool of 18,000 students, 25 per cent of whom come from more than 40 countries. Revenue last year hit $134 million, 17 per cent up on 2007.

Its success was due to a corporate restructuring exercise it started in 2004, said SIM GE chief executive Lee Kwok Cheong.

He said the firm brought together academic and corporate best practices such as ensuring academic quality, developing relevant courses, branding and resource management during the restructuring.

It also started opening its doors to students from overseas in 2004. 'Part of our growth was when we ventured out to get international students when before, we were focused only on students here,' said Mr Lee.

Plans to attract more students from the region are under way, and SIM GE expects to double student enrolment in five years or less.

The firm is also rebuilding and redesigning its information technology system so it can support a large academic organisation, he added.

Awards will be presented to the FG50 winners at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore today.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.