SPEECH FOR MR CHAN CHUN SING, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE LAUNCH OF PROCTER & GAMBLE’S “E-CENTER 2.0” ON 26 OCT, 9.15AM, AT PROCTER & GAMBLE SINGAPORE

1. A very good morning to all, friends and colleagues from the P&G family.

2. Today is doubly meaningful for us. First, to congratulate P&G on your milestone achievement in setting up this new research center. It has been a good partnership between P&G and the Singapore economy over many years. This is yet another significant milestone in our onward journey. 

3. There is another reason why I am doubly happy today. When we hear about the P&G strategy, it speaks to us because it is exactly what we have been talking about how we are going to take the Singapore economy to the next level. 

4. P&G today is an established brand. You can say that it commands a price premium but it is not resting on its laurels. The range of P&G’s products today do not just compete on the basis of price. In fact, it competes on the basis of quality and trust. These are also the same things that Singapore wants to be known for – a brand of trust and a brand of quality. 

5. Today, in the development that we see before us, we are also talking about how we invest in the next generation of technology. We use digital data to enable us to compete on the basis of knowing the market better, serving our customers better. Today when we look at the i-Supply chain, it is also the way forward in how we envisage manufacturing in Singapore to be done. Today, when we look at the use of the internet for sales, for commerce, it is again how we think we should move forward. 

6. We are very happy to partner P&G in this journey, because it will not just benefit P&G but will also catalyse a wider movement in the Singapore economy to get on board this new wave of digital economy, robotics, i-Supply chain and using the Internet as a platform for us to compete. 

7. For Singapore, this is especially important, because we have never believed that we can compete on the basis of the size of our economy or price. But we can compete on the basis of connectivity, reaching out to new markets beyond our geographical constraints. 

8. So that is why I am doubly happy – not just to launch this new project together with P&G but also because it is part of the bigger Singapore story of how we intend to move forward. 

9. I am sure the beneficiaries will not just be P&G. I am sure the beneficiaries will also include the many Singapore partners and SMEs that are working with you. We hope that through your effort you will also bring them along and we can all walk this journey together. So thank you very much for your effort, congratulations once again, and we look forward to doing great things together with the P&G family. Thank you very much.