In the six months since the Wonca Secretariat moved to Singapore, there have been several developments of significance to the organization. These six months have been hectic ones but most satisfying for me as CEO as I can feel that the organization is now preparing itself for greater challenges and a more prominent international role in the years ahead. We have also been able to put in place certain legal and organizational infrastructures which would ensure that the organization enjoyed better legal standing as an international body of family doctors

Completion of Secretariat relocation and a Corporate Structure

The new Wonca Secretariat in Singapore is located in a small office space within the premises of the College of Family Physicians of Singapore and in the same building complex as the Ministry of Health .The transfer of all materials and functions of the Wonca Secretariat from Melbourne to Singapore is now finally complete. The day to day tasks of the Secretariat is now totally handled in Singapore including the disbursements and receipt of all funds. The small fixed deposit of Wonca Funds, which is the accumulated reserves that we have been able to save all these years, have now been transferred to Singapore from the account in Melbourne. The Wonca account in Melbourne will be closed shortly.
The slow and laborious process of the corporatisation of Wonca has also been completed in these past six months. The company " World Organisation of Family Doctors Limited" is a legally constituted entity registered in the Republic of Singapore. This company will be used to manage the Wonca Secretariat and will also be the entity for legal contracts and agreements entered into by Wonca internationally. That is Wonca will have legal standing in all its dealings. Another company "Wonca International Inc" is a company properly and legally constituted

From left to right: Professor Cheong Pak Yean, President, College of Family Physicians, Singapore, Mr Chan Soo Sen, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Health Singapore, Dr Michael Boland, WONCA President, Dr Alfred Loh, Wonca CEO, and Yvonne Chung, Wonca Administrative Manager, at the opening of the new WONCA Secretariat in Singapore

in the British Virgin Islands. Wonca Inc ( in short ) is the entity that will be used to handle all Wonca funds through an off-shore account in a Singapore bank. This move of having an off-shore company with an off-shore account is necessary to ensure that Wonca need not pay tax on all its financial gains whilst operating the secretariat in Singapore. There is, however, still the need for statutary declarations and audited accounting of all funds handled by Wonca Inc. That is, Wonca will continue to function with corporate transparency and accountability.

A number of significant Wonca events took place in the early part of November 2001 in Singapore. These were the:

· official opening of the Wonca Secretariat in Singapore
· launch of the new Wonca world-wide web: "www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com".
· Strategic Planning Seminar sponsored by Pharmacia Upjohn.
· first meeting of the Wonca Executive at the Singapore Secretariat.

I shall cover the first three items in this column but will leave the last item on the Executive Meeting for my column in the next issue of Wonca News.

Official Opening of Wonca Secretariat and Launch of Wonca Web

The new Wonca Secretariat in Singapore was officially declared opened on Monday, 5th November 2001 by the Guest of Honour Mr Chan Soo Sen. He is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Health. This took place in a beautiful and historic auditorium within the building-complex housing the Wonca Secretariat, the Singapore College of Family Physicians and the Ministry of Health. The event was attended by Members of the Wonca Executive and some of their spouses, Council Members, clinical tutors and members of the College of Family Physicians, senior staff of the Ministry of Health and other well wishers including some from the pharmaceutical industry.

The opening ceremony was a simple but dignified one with speeches from the President of the College and of Wonca and a keynote address by the Guest of Honour in which he declared the support of his Ministry for the hosting of the Wonca Secretariat in Singapore .

A special part of the Opening Ceremony was dedicated to the Official Launch of the Wonca Web , "GlobalFamilyDoctor.com" , during which a specially designed power-point presentation prepared by medi+World ( the web provider ) was shown. The presentation featured items on the website including the various features found in the site. Now that the Wonca Web is fully functional, you are encouraged to log-on and have a look at the site using ' www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com'

Wonca President Dr Michael Boland welcoming the attendees at the Official Opening of the WONCA Secretariat and the Launch of the new Wonca Web

Following this web launch, all VIPs and guests were invited to move down to the Wonca Secretariat where the Guest of Honour unveiled a plaque to mark the Official Opening of the Secretariat. This plaque is now on permanent display at the Secretariat. A small reception of finger-food and drinks was held after the formalities in an adjacent hall where VIPs and guests were able to mingle and interact with Members of Executive of Wonca.

Strategic Planning Seminar Held

The idea of holding a strategic planning seminar for Members of Executive of Wonca and Chairpersons of Wonca Standing Committees and Working Parties, evolved from a discussion between Dr Michael Boland, Mr Tom Berry of Pharmacia Upjohn and the CEO during the Durban Conference in May 2001. Tom Berry is the Associate Director, Public Relations and Advocacy Development , Global Customer Communications of Pharmacia Upjohn. Pharmacia, a strong and long time supporter of Wonca, very graciously agreed to sponsor the airfares, accommodation and meals of all Wonca participants of the seminar. Pharmacia also sponsored the professional fees and travel expenses of an appointed Strategic Planning Consultant from the USA to be convenor for the seminar. It was then decided that the seminar should be held in Singapore in the last quarter of 2001.

This timing and venue fitted well into the plans of Executive to have the next Executive Meeting in Singapore to coincide with the official opening of the Secretariat and the official launch of the Wonca Web. Preparations for the seminar started immediately following the end of the Durban Conference. Cathryn Gunther of the Graham Group Consulting of Connecticut, USA was the appointed consultant and convenor for the event. She immediately went about communicating with different Members of Executive via e-mails on various aspects of Wonca's functions, objectives, organizational structure, financial models and other ' tribal' issues.

The Strategic Planning Seminar was held over the two full days of 6th and 7th November 2001 at the Marriott Hotel, Singapore. All Members of Wonca Executive, the 5 Chairpersons of the Wonca Standing Committees and Working Parties and the Editor of Wonca News, were present for the seminar. It was two days of intense concentration and delibration with small groups discussions as the main activity.

The Strategic Planner Seminar objectives were to:
· compare and contrast progress made on the Wonca Goals identified in Killarney, Ireland;
· identify key issues in the light of Wonca's internal capabilities and external
threats and opportunities;
· translate the key issues into objectives that are specific, measureable, actionable, realistic and time-bound;
· propose practical and workable action steps for achieving the identified goals and objectives.

Key issues addressed at the seminar included:
· the role of Wonca as a global organization (eg. influencing government and public policy to improve health, health care, standards of training and practice, etc.)
· the effective handling of global health issues as a world body of family doctors ( eg. smoking cessation, HIV )
· marketing Wonca to member organizations and improving its image
· membership building and strengthening of membership bonds
· fund development and seeking ways to create win-win partnership with the pharmaceautical and other industries.
· communications and publications.

On the final session of the seminar, it was clear to all participants that the next strategic move for Wonca is to develop a Strategic Business Plan with which it would attain its objectives, market itself to others and grow and strengthen the organization. Outcomes from the Strategic Planning Seminar will be shared in future issues of Wonca News.

Dr Alfred WT Loh
Chief Executive Officer
Wonca