Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation University’s Think BIG Conference

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND MINISTER-IN-CHARGE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT ENTREPRENEURS’ ORGANIZATIONUNIVERSITY’S THINK BIG CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2008, 5.10 PM AT RITZ-CARLTON MILLENIA HOTEL GRAND BALLROOM

Mr Dave Galbenski, Chairman, EO

Mr Nicklaus D’Cruz, Chairman of EO University

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good evening to all

Introduction

I am happy to join you this evening, at Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) University’s Think BIG Conference. It is an honor for Singapore to be the first country in South East Asia to host this event. To our many guests from overseas, our warmest welcome and I hope you’ll have a great stay in Singapore.

‘Thinking big’ is an important mindset. In fact, one could argue that it is even more important for small start-ups and businesses to think big, as they define their niches and contemplate strategies for profitable growths. “Thinking Big” is empowering. It differentiates the start-ups with global business model from others that are contended with local reach. Today, we have many “Think Big” founders gathered in this room.

The Singapore Story

In an intimate way, the ‘Think big’ philosophy also holds a special meaning for us. Singapore is a small island nation in Southeast Asia, situated off the southern tip of Malay Peninsula, with the size of only 707 sq. km. Prior to European settlement, the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village. In 1819 the British East India Company established a trading post on the island, which was used thereafter as a strategic trading post along the spice route. Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centers of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in Southeast Asia.

After the World War II, Singapore became part of Malaysia but gained our independence in 1965. Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has been on the rise. Foreign direct investment and a state-led drive to industrialization have created a modern economy focused on electronics, manufacturing, petrochemicals, IT, tourism and financial services alongside traditional international trade. According to Wikipedia: “Singapore is the 8th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita. This small nation has foreign exchange reserves of more than US$77 billion”.

Considering the severe limitations on Singapore, what is the secret of the Singapore story?

I believe Singapore story works because first we have a determined leadership. Secondly, we believe in good governance; and thirdly, we are able to galvanize the people to work for common good in a meritocratic system.

From the onset, our leaders believed that our future was in our own hand, was up to us to shape it. As we embarked on industrialization in the 60s, we soon realized Singapore’s domestic market was too small to sustain any meaningful production and we must export to the region and beyond. To do that, we must create goods and services that the external markets require. Hence from day one, our traders and merchants and manufacturers know they have to think big, and internationalization was an underlying psyche amongst the most successful businesses.

Take the example of Changi International Airport. Changi has consistently remained one of the best airports in the world that received the most accolades year after year. In 2007 alone, it received 19 best airport awards and served over 36 million passengers in 2007. This is an amazing feat, given that Singapore’s population is only 4.8 million. Changi airport is based in Singapore but serves a much larger and growing international travel community. It “internationalizes” with global linkages and value added services.

Back in the early 90s, I was involved in an ambitious project to connect seven southern islands to form an integrated oil and petrochemical complex. When we started the concept, even other government departments did not believe that our ideas could work. We had to convince our friends and allies, we also had to market to potential investors from Japan, US and Europe, helping them to visualize a piece of area in the sea that would be reclaimed as land for their future investments.

Fortunately, Singapore’s reputation in honoring our promises was strong. They came, they saw, they did their sums, and signed on the dotted line. Today, Jurong Island is home to S$30bil worth of investments and 90 companies including Sumitomo, Mitsui, Toray, Shell, BASF, ExxonMobil and DuPont and many others. Jurong Island started as an unbelievable idea. Fortunately, we had people “thinking big” and others to believe in their “big ideas”.

Building a Pro-business Environment

As we developed our economy, we realized that creating a pro business environment for multinationals was different from creating a pro business environment for small business and start-ups. Hence in 2003, we started an entrepreneurship movement by establishing The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (or ACE in short), and a Minister responsible for entrepreneurship. From there, a new chapter of private and public sector collaborative movement commenced. Singapore embarked on a journey of remaking, to render herself more entrepreneurial.

The results of the collaborative efforts have been encouraging. Over the past few years, we have lowered corporate taxes, individual income taxes, exemption of income taxes for small businesses, R&D grants for start-ups, reduced compliance and simplified government processes.

To encourage more start-up formation, we introduced a number of incentive policies to encourage Venture Capital formation in Singapore. Our latest estimates showed that we have more than 175 VC firms managing over US$19 billion worth of funds out of Singapore.

In cutting red tapes, our efforts have been relentless. Over the last few years, the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP) received some 1,700 suggestions for rule change, and accepted over 900 of these and acted on them to implement change. Our efforts in cutting red tape have been recognized internationally. The World Bank has ranked Singapore as the “the world’s easiest place to do business” for the past three years running.

Singapore excels because we are a connected node, a place where talents gravitate towards and build homes. Through a number of talent attraction programmes such as EntrePass and Global Investor Programme (GIP), foreign talent and entrepreneurs can easily obtain Permanent Resident status in Singapore to work or startup businesses. Today, amongst our 4.8 mil population, about 1.1 mil are foreigners adding diversity and strength to the economy here.

Today's Business Environment

As we gather here today, the world is still going through a tumultuous time after the sub prime tsunami. Major economies in the world are unraveling from a confidence crisis. Credit has tightened, consumer’s propensity to spend has weakened. The immediate prospect, according to many analysts, is dull and dreary.

From lessons of history, however, we know that the storms before us will be behind us, given time. The right question we should ask now is what can we do to soar again when blue skies and sunshine return.

The theme of “think big” of this conference is therefore most appropriate as it focuses our attention on sustainable business models and long term competitiveness. With this focus, we have the confidence to overcome short term challenges and build long term success. To all of you in this conference, I wish you all the best in your big dreams. I hope to see you again in Singapore.