Speech By Mr S Iswaran, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office & Second Minister For Home Affairs And Trade & Industry At The Official Opening Of The IBM Client Centre On Tuesday, 4 September 2012 At 9.50am, IBM Singapore Technology Park
Ms Janet Ang, Managing Director, IBM Singapore
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Introduction
I am delighted to join all of you here this morning to mark the opening of IBM’s Client Centre. Today’s event is significant, as this Singapore Client Centre will be IBM’s lead Client Centre for the world. It is here that solutions for markets across Asia, as well as international growth markets such as Russia and Brazil, are developed. More importantly, this signifies yet another milestone in IBM’s long-term partnership with Singapore, and demonstrates the critical role of infocomm technology and infocomm companies in Singapore’s innovation-driven economy.
Infocomm Technology (ICT) companies play an important role in Singapore’s innovation-driven economy
When IBM set up its first branch office in Singapore almost 60 years ago[1], our economic landscape was vastly different from what it is today. Unemployment was over 10 per cent and GDP per capita was less than US$428[2]. In those times, Singapore needed an industrial base to absorb the large numbers of unskilled workers and so, companies invested in labour-intensive manufacturing activities here. As our economy progressed, we saw the manufacturing sector gradually evolve into a capital-intensive and skill-intensive one.
In the 1990s, Singapore continued moving up the value chain in manufacturing and intensified the use of technology. It was during this time that IBM set up its Integrated Supply Chain Manufacturing operations here[3]. What we witnessed over the next decade is Singapore’s transformation into a strong Intellectual Property hub, with R&D as a cornerstone of our economic development. In doing so, Singapore laid the groundwork for companies to undertake knowledge-based activities here.
Today, ICT companies, such as IBM, are helping Singapore chart its next phase of growth as our economy undergoes a transition into one driven by innovation and creation; one where companies undertake risks to conceptualise ideas and translate them into new products and services that can be tested and commercialised; one which provides an environment for companies to embrace the free spirit to innovate, collaborate, and create.
The IBM Client Centre is a good example of how ICT companies can serve the regional and global markets by exporting innovative solutions out of Singapore. For example, a client from Brazil can work with the Singapore team to develop a predictive model for oil and gas exploration. From Singapore, the team can further collaborate with colleagues, located in say either Australia or China, to fine-tune their algorithms. This new model can then be deployed in locations as far-flung as Angola[4] or in nearby Indonesia. This illustrates how Singapore can play a pivotal role for companies like IBM to create and commercialise high-value products and solutions for their customers worldwide.
Singapore, a Global-Asia Hub for high-value solutions and creations
As a Global-Asia Hub, Singapore is a natural location for developing high-value solutions and creations, especially in the ICT sector. Our sound business environment, strong connectivity and international links provide companies with opportunities for commercialisation and access to growth markets. In terms of infrastructure, we have excellent data connectivity and hosting capacities. Our peak connection speed of 28.6 Megabits per second (Mbps) is amongst the top 10 fastest in the world[5]. We host about half of the Southeast Asian region’s 3rd-party data centre space, with a capacity of over 2 million square feet[6].
Being a global city in the heart of Asia, Singapore also offers useful insights into consumer demands that span both the East and the West. Our diversity of culture allows for cross-fertilisation of ideas that enables companies to develop and test their creations. The opportunity to use Singapore as a “Living Lab” has attracted companies, such as Unilever, to undertake their brand management and innovations here.
Companies can further tap our regional and global market access to bring their creations to various countries. We have an extensive network of bilateral and multilateral Free-Trade Agreements, as well as strong trade links with emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, Russia, and Latin America. Indonesia, for instance, is our fourth largest trading partner, with total trade of S$78 billion. Our trade with Russia has also more than doubled to S$4.7 billion between 2007 and 2011, while trade with Brazil has grown steadily over the years to S$4.2 billion[7] in 2011.
In developing high-value ICT solutions, it is also important that we build up multi-disciplinary capabilities in computer science, statistics, and mathematics, as well as deep domain knowledge of specific sectors and industries. To this end, we are working with companies and local institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to ensure that local graduates have the right skill sets and knowledge to participate in these activities. For example, our local tertiary institutions like NUS, NTU, SMU, and Singapore Poly now offer courses with specialisation in data analytics which are highly applicable to ICT solution development.
Conclusion
I am pleased that IBM has chosen Singapore to house its global Client Centre. This is testament to Singapore’s ability to support IBM’s wide range of activities, including a high-end server manufacturing facility, a research collaboratory for urban solutions, a supply chain analytics centre of competence, as well as a security software lab. Singapore and IBM have forged a long-term partnership over the years, and I hope that we will continue to strengthen this partnership in years to come.
I wish you every success. Thank you.
[2] Source: Department of Statistics.
[3] IBM established its ASEAN HQ in Singapore in1991.
[4] Angola, an OPEC member, currently produces over 1.8mil barrels of oil a day, and is the third largest oil producer in Africa after Nigeria and Libya.
[5] Source: Akamai, “State of the Internet” 1Q 2012 Report.
[7] Source: IE Singapore Stat Link. Russia: S$1.9b (2007), S$4.7b (2011); Brazil: S$3.7b (2010), S$4.2b (2011).