Presidents and EXCO members of Trade Associations and Chambers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Evening.
It is my pleasure to join you this evening to recognise the efforts and achievements of our Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), and to mark the 10th year of the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme.
Introduction
TACs are key partners for the Government in reaching out to the business community and driving change within your industries. As advocates of businesses, you provide valued feedback on business needs and concerns to the Government. This ensures that Government’s assistance to our companies, especially SMEs, is directed and relevant for their needs. Your networks are critical channels for reaching out to businesses to share information on new industry trends and opportunities, as well as how businesses can tap government assistance to support their capability development and growth.
Over the past 10 years, the LEAD programme has served as a key government scheme for TACs to drive initiatives to shape industry development and help SMEs improve their capabilities and tap new opportunities. Through LEAD, SPRING and IE Singapore have supported around 160 industry projects with 31 TACs. These projects, totalling about $100 million in grants, have benefitted about 38,000 local enterprises in developing capabilities and venturing overseas.
Capability building
A key project in the area of capability building was the set up of the Singapore Innovation & Productivity Institute (SiPi) by the Singapore Manufacturing Federation in 2012. SiPi undertakes research and develops innovation and productivity-related resources which SMEs can tap, such as customer analytics programmes, productivity diagnostics tools and coaching programmes. Since its establishment, SiPi has reached out to more than 3,600 SMEs and engaged in more than 50 productivity improvement projects to transform businesses in the manufacturing and engineering services sector.
Expanding overseas
LEAD has also been important in supporting TACs in their internationalisation efforts.
Blueprint, led by the Textile and Fashion Federation (TaFf), is a good example of an international market platform developed through LEAD support. As the trade component under Asia Fashion Exchange, it draws together the best of Asian talents in a single platform to showcase Singapore and regional designers to international buyers from Paris, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. This year’s edition saw a new initiative, FashionisTech, which aims to help Singapore designers apply technology to differentiate their work and achieve cost efficiencies, which will help them to grow in the international fashion arena.
LEAD has also helped TACs set up in-market presence in key overseas markets to facilitate market access by SMEs. For example, the Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association (SFMA) worked with IE to set up the Tasty Singapore Food Product Centre (TSFPC) in Yiwu last year; while the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI) partnered IE to establish the IE-SCCCI Singapore Enterprise Centre (ISSEC) in Shanghai in 2013. Both centres provide advice and market information to help SMEs gain entry into China. To date, the two centres have provided assistance through over 700 advisory cases.
Building TACs’ internal capabilities
For our TACs to successfully drive such industry-level projects, they need to have strong internal capabilities. LEAD has also helped TACs through supporting the development of internal secretariat capabilities.
For example, the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS), which was set up in 2006, has benefited from LEAD support to establish executive offices, and to develop and implement more than 60 training courses for its members. These courses, which are delivered by energy experts and industry specialists, have benefitted around 7,000 professionals in the energy industry.
It is important that TACs continue to upgrade their internal capabilities. I am glad to note that the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has worked with the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) to introduce the internationally-recognised Certificate Programme in Association Management (CPAM). Through this programme, our TACs can develop their secretariat teams, thereby strengthening their leadership and management capabilities, and positioning our TACs to do more to lead their respective industries. Tonight, I am happy to be conferring the certificates to the programme’s first batch of graduands.
LEAD will continue to support TACs in spearheading development of their industry sectors
Our TACs have accomplished much in the past decade. To continue to address the needs of our companies and help their members tap new opportunities, our TACs will need to build on their strengths and develop new capabilities. In particular, I encourage our TACs to focus on two areas.
First, the focus on helping companies to internationalise needs to continue. The realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 will open up new opportunities for our companies in our regional markets. With the AEC, businesses will not need to pay tariffs for most products, leading to lower export costs. Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) will also make trade easier, for example with common product standards. This means that once a product is tested in Singapore, it will not need to be tested again in another ASEAN market. This too will lower costs and improve business certainty. MRAs also extend to the movement of skilled professionals, making it easier for businesses to move our skilled professionals to other ASEAN countries. All of this makes it easier to expand into ASEAN, and I urge TACs to identify specific areas where you can help our businesses do so.
Second, our TACs can take the lead in working together to help their members take advantage of new opportunities arising from new growth sectors such as urban solutions, logistics, and advanced manufacturing. As many of these areas are cross-sectoral, TACs will need to collaborate with each other to bring together their members to tap these opportunities.
Such collaborations will be given a significant boost through the newly formed Trade Association (TA) Hub that the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) is championing with the support of JTC and SPRING. The TA Hub will enable SCCCI to upgrade the capabilities of smaller associations through spearheading the conceptualisation and implementation of industry initiatives and projects. Besides more efficient resource utilisation through the availability of shared facilities, the co-location will catalyse more cross-industry collaborations amongst TACs. The launch of collaboration between SCCCI and 11 TACs that will come on board the TA Hub, which will take place later this evening, is an important mark of this step forward in collaboration among TACs. It is fitting that we mark the 10-year milestone in the LEAD programme with this important collaboration, which reflects the strides that our TACs have taken over the course of the last ten years.
Conclusion
To ensure that our businesses remain competitive, TACs must continue to play a leadership role to shape our business environment, guide our businesses in working together to build new capabilities, develop competitive advantage, and tap opportunities through innovation, collaboration and internationalisation. Through LEAD, the government will continue to support the important work you do.
On this note, I would like to thank all the TACs which have participated in LEAD for your efforts over the last ten years. I would also like to congratulate the six recipients of this year’s LEAD Awards, and look forward to the success of your projects. Thank you.