OPENING ADDRESS BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE GLOBAL BRAND FORUM, ON 6 AUGUST 2007, 9.10AM AT RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

I am happy to be here today at the Global Brand Forum 2007.A warm welcome to our overseas visitors who have joined us here.

In a few days’ time, we will be celebrating our 42nd National Day at Marina Bay. It will be the first time the celebration is held on a large pontoon on the Singapore River with the city skyline as the backdrop.

A Changing Skyline

The skyline of the SingaporeC ity has transformed with new iconic additions such as the Merlion, Esplanade, Fullerton Hotel, the Marina Bay Golf Course and more made only in the last few years. In the next five years, more breathtaking architecture will come on stream. It includes the Singapore Flyer, the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, the Sail Marina Bay, the Business Financial Centre, the double helix bridge and the Gardens by the Bay.

Imageries such as the city skyline and architectural icons have a lasting impact on visitors’ minds. After all, they are repeated in the travel guides and news websites on Singapore, and photo albums and digital players such as iPods of the many millions of tourists who visit Singapore each year. Yet, physical beauties, however picture-perfect, form only part of the attributes of a city. Whether Singapore is attractive and engaging to her people and visitors depends on the “softer aspects”, the intangibles of her persona.

The Intangibles

The softer aspects and the “intangibles” of a city are better experienced and felt, than seen and touched. Experiences such as the intensity of warmth, creativity, fun, friendliness of people, openness to different cultures and religions give a city its character. People’s earnestness towards work and life, business ethics and integrity, the sense of social justice between the majority and minority, orderliness and safety, shops’ honesty and many more seemingly mundane group-behaviors exhibited in the daily lives of the people establish a society’s reputation or the lack of it. Over time, a nation builds its reputation. Like a large conglomerate, a nation establishes its brand based on what it is, what it stands for and how it deals with its constituents and how it conducts its international affairs.

Interestingly, Singapore started out 42 years ago not seeking to build a brand per se. I even doubt if the concept of a nation’s brand was understood then compared to the general idea of a nation’s reputation. The immediate issue confronting the people here at independence was one of survival, job creation, poverty relief, housing shortage, national defense and keeping the races from falling out. For Singapore to survive, the leaders knew they had to make Singapore a different place. They set out to create in Singapore a first world environment in which international investors would be attracted to.

The pressing nature of the many day-to-day survival issues then necessitated quick results. Yet results would come about not by haphazard policies but through coherent and deliberate policy measures designed for sustainable development. The dilemma of the early leaders was not unlike a start-up entrepreneur trying to make the first sales, creating the first cash-flow while worrying about the firm’s long term sales, growth and viability. Planning for the long term is easier said than done. It requires trading off short term gains and gratification with long term investments and strength-building. It requires the government to be correct rather than popularity. It requires discipline and consistency.

Foundations to Nation Brand

Let me cite a few examples to illustrate our policy of discipline and consistency.

In the economic front, job creation as a concept was simple enough to realize. But to go beyond the first few new plants and create enough jobs for the entire young population, skills development became an urgent matter. Our first polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic was established in 1954. Ngee Ann Polytechnic was formed in 1963. Subsequently, three more polytechnics were built. The Institute of Technical Education and other vocational training institutes mushroomed. Training schools such as the French-Singapore Institute, German-Singapore Institute and the Japan-Singapore Training Centre were formed by the EDB with the help of foreign nations well known for their workforce training. Today, our system of technical education is an envy of many other developing countries.

Our investments in education were deliberate. Our best educational institutions are our public schools. Our educational budget has consistently been the second largest in government spending, after Defense. Over 20 percent of the national budget this year will be spent on education. The results? More than 50 percent of the cohorts graduate with tertiary education from polytechnics and universities. From time to time, Singapore students win awards in international science and math competitions. In fact, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ranked Singapore first for math and science[1].

Our goal in R&D is well defined - to intensify national R&D spending to achieve 3 percent of GDP by 2010. We have allocated a five-year $7.5 billion budget to promote R&D, especially in three focus areas: biomedical sciences, environmental and water technologies and interactive and digital media.

Likewise, Singapore has done well in other areas of economic development. In transportation, Changi Airport is rated amongst the best in the world and Singapore’s port is amongst the largest and most busiest. Chances are, when you return to Singapore for next year’s Global Brand Forum, you would come through our new Terminal 3, scheduled to open in January 2008. Changi Airport will be able to handle 70 million passengers by then.

Similarly, we have grown to be a regional financial center with over 600 financial institutions, ranging from banks to insurance companies to fund managers. The asset management industry grew strongly with another double-digit growth of 24 percent in assets managed by Singapore-based fund managers to S$900 billion for the year 2006.The total market capitalization of stocks listed on SGX is now over S$723 billion, and we continue to be the largest REITs market in Asia outside Japan. The foundations for our financial center have been the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and a stable, competent and honest government that pursues sound macroeconomic policies with budget surpluses almost every year.

Overall, Singapore has been ranked as the second most competitive economy (after US), by the International Institution for Management Development[2].

Sustaining an Enduring Brand

From consistency in policies and implementation, to vibrant industry clusters and a robust economy, I have described how Singapore has developed, and in the process knowingly and unknowingly created a brand for our own. I think it is acceptable to say that most would associate the Singapore brand with qualities such as being Clean, Efficient, Trusted, Reliable and High Quality and Responsive. The question we want to ask here is whether the set of current brand attributes is adequate in the next phase of growth and development? How do we evolve a living and enduring brand?

Clearly, I believe, our vision for the future Singapore will determine the new brand attributes we will acquire and add to an enduring Singapore brand.

Our vision for Singapore to be a home for citizens, residents and immigrants would mean we must make Singapore safe, tolerant to new cultures, and a great place for bringing up family, for education and for social interactions. We create the environment for the talented to succeed. We also help those with less opportunities to acquire new skills and realize their potentials. We strive to build a caring society. We want to retain the diversity and youth of this immigrant society.

Our vision for Singapore to be a dynamic and bustling business hub would require our workforce to be highly trained, multi-disciplinary and creative. We need entrepreneurs who are passionate and resourceful. We need scientists who are committed and ground-breaking. We strive to create an environment where the best ideas are met with the smartest capital. This vision requires us to invest heavily in human resources to liberate the human mind, and to motivate them to be the best they can.

Our vision for Singapore to be a great destination for tourists and visitors is supported by a series of breathtaking developments. Our investments in promoting excellence in arts and culture, our plan to create Active, Beautiful and Clean waterways throughout the island, the rejuvenation of the Singapore River, the new Gardens by the Bay, integrated resorts in Sentosa and downtown, the new Sports Hub and so on, will remake Singapore’s physical environment. More than external changes, they will also signal new thinking and approaches to design, integration and value creation.

Conclusion

In 1965, when Singapore became independent, our country was poor and Spartan. Survival was the pre-occupation. 42 years later, guided by a vision to make Singapore work, we enjoy a Singapore brand that many others in the developing world hope to replicate. Our experience in building the Singapore brand has been an honest, ground-up and inside-out process. It will be on this basis of sincerity that the new Singapore brand would evolve.

In closing, let me quote John Ruskin, a famous British poet, author and artist in the 19th century:

“Great Nations Write Their Autobiography in Three Manuscripts – The Book of Their Deeds, The Book of Their Words and the Book of Their Art”.

Thank you.

 

---

[1]Singapore was ranked first for maths and science in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) on fourth and eight grade students.