(SINGAPORE) Singapore will start what is believed to be the first premier institute to develop Asian leadership and management talent for the region.

Announcing the move to establish a Human Capital Leadership Institute in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said the institute will be part of a new push for businesses and academia to work together to produce and adopt best practices.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Singapore Management University (SMU) will set up the institute, with the Economic Development Board (EDB) spearheading the Singapore Leadership Initiative for building Networks and Knowledge (LINK) to unite research houses, business schools and companies to focus on leadership and talent development.

These efforts are to build human capital not just for Singapore but also for the rest of Asia, Mr Lee said, in kicking off a two-day Singapore Human Capital Summit conference.

'After all, Singapore is at the crossroads of Asia,' he said. 'If we can help Asian economies to gain talent and grow, we ourselves will in turn grow with them.'

Mr Lee said Singapore wants to be a Home for Talent. This means not only being in the forefront of human capital development; it also means Singapore must provide exciting job prospects and fun living.

Singapore has put in place an infrastructure for research, training and talent-building.

Mr Lee said the next step is to 'cluster research, practice and teaching institutions from the region and the world'.

'This clustering will strengthen the links between research, management and training, encourage corporations and academia to work together on real-world challenges and facilitate the eventual adoption of new best practices,' the PM said.

Human resource consultancy firm Towers Perrin has already launched a 'multi-million-dollar' stu- dy of cross-cultural leadership in Asia, while Watson Wyatt plans to develop human capital risk management tools for Asian companies.

Mr Lee said the Singapore LINK will encourage more of such studies.

'We hope to steadily build the Singapore LINK into an indispensable resource for organisations seeking to upgrade their human capital management,' he said.

The Human Capital Leadership Institute, which comes under the Singapore LINK, will strive to become 'the premier institution for raising strategic human capital capabilities in Asia'.

'It will conduct pan-Asian research on important human resource challenges,' PM Lee said.

'It will also offer best-in-class training and development programmes on leadership and management to global participants.'

One of these courses will be the Singapore Business Leaders' Programme, which prepares senior executives for regional or global roles.

'The programme will provide leadership development, networking opportunities, as well as exposure to leading human resource and talent management practices in Asia,' Mr Lee said.