Mr Lee Yi Shyan at The Launch of EnterpriseOne Business Information Services

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND MINISTER IN CHARGE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE LAUNCH OF ENTERPRISEONE BUSINESS INFORMATION SERVICES ON 2 AUGUST 2007 AT 2.00PM AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD LEVEL 7

Mr Stephen Lee,

Chairman of Singapore Business Federation,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon

Knowledge to empower businesses

Last Saturday, I was at the Enterprise Day Forum with 200 students. It was a nationwide e-business competition where students from primary schools to tertiary institutions developed business plans and competed for sales on eBay.

One particular 15-year-old teenager left an impression on me. He did his research and finally sourced electronic items from a shop, monitored the bid prices of these items on eBay and then offered these items below the prices. Within two months, this 15-year-old netted online sales of $16,800 and won the top prize in the non-tertiary category, even beating the teams from the tertiary institutions.

I understand from eBay that some 4,000 Singaporeans sell on eBay. And every hour, a Singapore seller sells 300 MP3 players and 27 watches to the world. Imagine if this continues, what will happen to the watch retailing industry? Clearly this tells us that business models are changing. Retailing is taking on new forms and businesses need to invest in IT, re-organize their processes to include other channels like the Internet. Secondly, the 15-year-old is arbitraging differences in price and product knowledge. If he represents a new generation of entrepreneurs, we should be very happy for them and yet worried for those who have not changed their business models.

We can learn something from these two entrepreneur and undertakings. First, our enterprises, especially SMEs, need to keep abreast of the latest developments and monitor changing trends, know their customers and keep tabs on the competition, not only within Singapore, but more so in the global marketplace. Second, our enterprises need to know how to leverage on key market intelligence to stay competitive and tap new business opportunities.

In highly competitive sectors, business decisions based on in-depth research and market intelligence can minimize the risk of new product launches, selecting site location and even hiring people. But identifying the right market research solution for customer acquisition and customer retention can be challenging.

Launch of EBIS

Today, I am pleased to announce a new initiative under the Enterprise One umbrella of services. Enterprise One Business Information Services, or EBIS in short, is spearheaded by SBF in partnership with IE Singapore, the National Library Board and SPRING Singapore. EBIS brings together the networks and expertise of these four partners to provide enterprises access to management and business information from some 50 subscribed databases, and equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to access such information.

Enterprises can gain access to business information services and resources that include the latest industry updates and research reports, industry workshops, with the guidance of dedicated research officers. More importantly, EBIS will enable our enterprises, particularly SMEs, to expand their information connectivity and international reach.

Conclusion

I am pleased that SBF has taken the lead to partner the government to serve the needs of our enterprises better. I urge more SMEs to leverage on EBIS to improve their competitiveness and grow their business. On this note, it gives me great pleasure to launch EBIS.

Thank you.