WELCOME ADDRESS BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND MANPOWER, AT “SPOTLIGHT ON TATARSTAN” (FEATURE EVENT OF RUSSIA-SINGAPORE BUSINESS FORUM 2010), AT 9.40AM, 27 SEP 2010, MARINA BAY SANDS

Your Excellency, Mr Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Morning.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to “Spotlight on Tatarstan”, the first-ever business seminar on the Republic of Tatarstan to be held in Singapore. On behalf of the organizer, let me first extend a warm welcome to Your Excellency, Mr Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, and all our guests who have flown in from Russia for this seminar.

Tatarstan is one of the most economically progressive regions in the Russian Federation. It emerged second on the index of competitiveness and third on the development of human potential in the 2009 ranking among the Russian regions[1]. Tatarstan also accounted for close to 3% of the federation’s Gross Regional Product last year.

In recent years, the local government has embarked on several initiatives to grow and modernize the Tatarstan economy. Let me cite four examples here. The first is ‘E-Tatarstan’, one of the most successful regional e-Government master plans in Russia that is now looked upon as a benchmark by other Russian regions. In September 2009, Singapore’s IDA International was invited to be part of the ‘E-Tatarstan’ programme. They have since signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and are in discussions on joint projects

The second initiative is the establishment of innovative infrastructure. There are 14 technology parks and five business incubators in Tatarstan that provide support for scientific and innovative developments in industrial production. I understand that Tatarstan will build a state-of-the-art IT village in the capital city of Kazan. Spanning 1,400 hectares of land, the project will potentially employ about 20,000 Infocomm Technology (ICT) professionals. Singapore’s RSP Architects Planners & Engineers has been invited to consider collaboration in this project. An MOU will be signed at this event later.

The third is the education reform programme. Kazan, which is one of Russia’s major educational centers, has the third highest student population in Russia after Moscow and St Petersburg. It is home to 30 universities and colleges with a student population of 180,000 from all over the world[2]. Last month, four MOUs were signed between the Tatarstan Ministry of Education & Science and three Singapore-based companies, namely Educare, ST Electronics and Marshall Cavendish. These companies will work with Tatarstan on the professional training of school teachers and leaders, development of new teaching materials and implementation of the concept of ‘Future Schools’.

The fourth initiative is the Special Economic Zones in Russia, of which SEZ Elabuga is no doubt one of the most successful. This SEZ has attracted more than 10 tenants including global MNCs like Saint Gobain and Air Liquide.

With these developments, it is timely that Singapore-based companies consider partnering Tatarstan for two key reasons. First, Tatarstan can serve as a good point of entry into the large Russian market. Singapore-based companies can tap on Tatarstan’s well-developed and innovative infrastructure to test-bed ideas and products for the Russian market. Second, with the modernization of the Tatarstan economy, companies can share Singapore’s relevant experience in industrialization and urban development. In particular, there is much potential for collaboration in the areas of urban solutions, ICT and education services.

Today’s business seminar marks the beginning of new friendships. I hope that “Spotlight on Tatarstan” will create a platform for public and private sector players from Singapore andTatarstan to collaborate on business initiatives and projects, and to better understand each other. I look forward to hearing more success stories and am confident that our bilateral economic ties will soar to greater heights.

Thank you.