Speech by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, at the Opening of The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition, Global Entrepolis @ Singapore 2007 at Suntec Singapore, Hall 403 - 404, HOT Stage (Level 4), Tuesday, 13 November 2007, 9.30 am

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning for the opening of The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition. I am indeed heartened to see so many participants from so many countries for this year’s Enterprise Exchange. A warm welcome to all here.

The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition has been included in the programme for Global Entrepolis @ Singapore, or GES, since it began in 2003.Enterprise Exchange is a highlight event that allows any company to reach a large audience of enterprises and investors from all over the world. Growing from strength to strength, the Enterprise Exchange is an effective platform for entrepreneurs, small businesses and multi-national corporations to showcase innovations and solutions, forge partnerships, explore market connections and seek funding.

We see very interesting innovations that can potentially change our lives. For instance, Murata Electronics has chosen The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition 2007 to showcase their Murata Boy, a bicycle-riding robot which will perform stunts at the exhibition. Another example is the launch of Neublick’s Roaming Interactive Multimedia Robot Display, an interactive human-sized robot that is poised to become the new-age sandwich-board-man. Such inventions are strong indications that robots with independent decision-making abilities could soon be a part of our everyday life.

Around the world, businesses need alliances to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive and globalized world. Singapore provides the perfect platform to enable businesses to overcome these.

The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition this year hosts 350 companies from over 30 countries. We see significant participation from businesses in Israel, China and India. The Vietnam pavilion is taking part for the second consecutive year, and is the largest pavilion for this year.

I am also pleased to announce that we have strong contributions from European and Vietnamese businesses.

The large European presence is led by the European Chamber of Commerce, a supporting organization of GES 2007.This is the first time we have a Europe Pavilion and this is testimony to the European Union’s continued commitment to strengthen trade relations with Singapore and the South-east Asian region. After all, the European Union is Singapore’s second largest trading partner. Their participation, combined with large engagement from ASEAN nations, will further strengthen Europe-ASEAN trade and business in the energy, technology and manufacturing sectors.

Within this region, Singapore has strong partnerships with its ASEAN neighbours. This is highlighted through Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board and Ho Chi Minh City’s Investment & Trade Promotion Center’s participation.

Both these government bodies are leveraging the Enterprise Exchange Exhibition 2007 to promote investment opportunities and incentives to international companies wishing to access their respective markets.

As a center of business, Singapore is home to over 7,000 MNCs and 148,000SMEs. It also has a conducive environment for companies and foreign start-ups to interact, collaborate and form partnerships. This diversity forms a substantial base of potential customers for companies to work with, whether they are entrepreneurial start-ups or established multinationals.

In terms of business readiness, Singapore has an excellent framework and a pro-business environment to support entrepreneurship. According to a study by KPMG, Singapore is the most cost-competitive business location among nine industrialized countries [1]. Singapore was also rated number one by the World Bank for ease of doing business for two consecutive years [2].

Besides the favorable business climate here, government bodies such as the Singapore Economic Development Board, SPRING Singapore and International Enterprise Singapore actively promote and facilitate companies at various stages of growth. On top of that, there are more than 175 venture capital firms in Singapore, providing access to over S$19 billion worth of funds.

As a result of these concerted investment efforts, the Milken Institute Capital Access Index ranks Singapore as the world’s second best country for providing financial infrastructures that support entrepreneurial activities[3].

In the past five years, we have seen the number of start-ups formed annually soar by almost 40% to reach a total number of 45,600 in 2006.Amongst these start-ups, the number of high-tech start-ups registered has increased from 2,900 to 4,300 per year. In addition, there are over 110 local and foreign incubator centers which provide start-ups with low-cost infrastructure and appropriate business support to grow their businesses. Examples of these foreign incubators include the Nordic Centre, and the German and Russian Business Centers.

We are also seeing the rise of a new breed of industry players : the global SMEs. While much smaller in size compared to the traditional multinationals, they still generate substantial amounts in revenues. Such global SMEs have common characteristics; they generally have flat reporting structures and are well-connected to global markets. Equipped with the good business practices, these global SMEs are exploring technology and markets abroad, while placing high significance on Research and Development to take advantage of available opportunities.

A good example of a global SME is OLAM, a supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients. It shifted its headquarters from London to Singapore and has presence in 52 other countries. Recently, OLAM has started to explore abroad, to source soybeans in Brazil and to supply cotton for the Chinese market. This is done in a joint investment partnership with Chinatex, a leading Chinese state-owned enterprise. OLAM provides a great example for other aspiring SMEs to emulate.

Conclusion

For Singapore to remain globally competitive in this knowledge-based era, it must move higher up the value chain. Hence, the Singapore government’s commitment to ensure that local business conditions for enterprise growth, innovation and access to global markets remain strong.

Global Entrepolis @ Singapore was launched in 2003 with the specific objective of creating such a global networking platform. We have seen five successful editions take off, with more than 50,000 participants flowing through and thousands of deals sealed and partnerships formed. The message is clear - Singapore is definitely a place where you can network with businesses globally, regardless of nationality.

On this note, I wish all delegates, innovators and exhibitors a productive exchange and a valuable networking experience. I am pleased to declare The Enterprise Exchange Exhibition 2007 open.