OPENING REMARKS BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE MEDIA BRIEFING ON HIS APPOINTMENTS AS MINISTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CHAIRMAN OF ACE, FRIDAY, 16 JUNE 2006, AT TOWER CLUB, 2.45PM

Members of the media

Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for making the time to attend this media briefing. This is the first media briefing that I am doing following my appointment as Minister of State for Trade and Industry. I will be using this opportunity to outline the achievements of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, or ACE for short, ACE’s continued role in promoting entrepreneurship in Singapore, as well as my personal take on how I see the entrepreneurship movement in Singapore developing.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF ACE

My predecessor, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, had led a team of very able and focused business leaders and entrepreneurs in ACE. They have been behind many of the improvements we see today in creating a pro-enterprise environment and entrepreneurial mindset in Singapore. ACE, which is a unique blend of private-public sector effort, has worked tirelessly to catalyze changes in rules and regulations, facilitate the exchange of ideas and promoting financing for start-ups and SMEs. The group has been singular in its objective to make Singapore more conducive and attractive for start-ups, both local and foreign.

Let me do a short stock take of ACE’s achievements. Since ACE was formed in 2003 to encourage entrepreneurship, more than 40 entrepreneurs and prominent business personalities have volunteered their time to speak at 145 ACE Speakers’ Circuit sessions, reaching out to some 28,000 students and teachers. In addition, about 20 Blue Sky Exchange & Evenings have been organized and they have succeeded in attracting about 3.000 participants in all.25 student ventures have been supported under the Entrepreneurial Talent Development Fund with $1 million worth of funding.

Their efforts have contributed in no small part in the progress Singapore has made in the entrepreneurship rankings. The 2005 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report showed a significant increase in entrepreneurial activity in Singapore over the last five years, placing us in 8th position amongst the 24 OECD[1] countries surveyed. This is supported by records from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority Singapore (ACRA), which showed that net firm formation more than doubled from an average of 8,000 between 1990 and 2001 to around 18,000 between 2002 and 2004. The financing environment has also been greatly enhanced, with more of our financial institutions offering a broad range of financing instruments which cater to enterprises at various stages of growth.

I feel privileged to join this dynamic community and I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on entrepreneurship in the light of my new portfolio.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SINGAPORE

With my working experience in IE, PSB (the predecessor of SPRING Singapore) and EDB before that, I have had many opportunities to interact with companies, big and small, and with entrepreneurs, both young and wise (not old!).These encounters with companies and entrepreneurs have left an indelible impression on me and made me realize the importance of entrepreneurship and how critical it is for Singapore’s economic development. How did I come to this conclusion? It is because many a good idea is actually seeded by the brainwave of a budding entrepreneur, an established businessman who is not afraid to go into uncharted territory once he is presented with the facts, or even an aspiring person who dares to make that first step into the unknown. What I am saying is that companies do not just happen. It is the people behind them that determine if companies succeed or fail.

In Singapore, we have a healthy mix of MNCs and SMEs. Alongside the larger companies, smaller companies form the backbone of the economy, giving it resilience and sustainability. If we can grow the pool of entrepreneurial companies, Singapore will be more attractive to the best global companies in terms of support services and even become their sources of innovation. Entrepreneurship thus makes for a more diversified and competitive economy. As such, Singapore cannot do without entrepreneurs.

One of the frequent questions I have been asked over the past weeks is my vision for entrepreneurship in Singapore. My vision is to see Singapore become an attractive node for entrepreneurial talents, local and foreign; to have entrepreneurs who are constantly re-inventing themselves to pursue new business opportunities, here and beyond. This is not a new vision; it is one shared by my predecessors and partners of ACE - the government, the industry chambers and associations, the businessmen and entrepreneurs themselves.

ACE’S ROLE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Moving ahead, the new challenge I see ACE and myself facing would be to help entrepreneurs grow stronger and bigger. And ultimately to take flight and expand overseas. ACE’s first step in meeting this new challenge is to transform this year’s Blue Sky Festival in July into a regional platform for entrepreneurs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore to network, exchange ideas and explore business partnerships.

The festival will have the theme, ‘Singapore and Beyond – Linking for Opportunities'. This networking-cum-conference will have learning sessions on venturing into the regional countries. Successful entrepreneurs and country government representatives will explore with participants the unique experience of doing business regionally. At the same time, there will be an investment forum for entrepreneurs seeking second-stage financing. I am told that we have received some US$10 million worth of funding requests to-date. The 2006 Blue Sky Festival promises to be an exciting event for entrepreneurs who are exploring regional business opportunities.

MOVING AHEAD

I believe my experience in internationalization gained from my years in IE will be useful when working on improving the access to international market opportunities for local enterprises. But even as we move into helping companies regionalize and internationalize, ACE will continue in its efforts to be a catalyst through the efforts of its 4 Action Crucibles (AC) that focus on specific areas of entrepreneurship – Financing, Culture, Rules, and Internationalization.

ACE will be having its annual planning retreat in August. We will take stock of what has been achieved and review the direction and targets ahead. .We also intend to look beyond the Action Crucibles to see if we should perhaps adopt a sector-by-sector approach so that we can better zoom in on the specific factors which hinder entrepreneurship.

We will share more of our plans in the months to come. One thing however, is certain. We will definitely continue the successful formula of having a private sector-led and government-supported ACE movement. It will see entrepreneurship in Singapore to the next level. I look forward to your continued support for ACE and the upcoming Blue Sky Festival.

Thank you.