Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Launch of the National Retail Scholarship at Charles & Keith

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL RETAIL SCHOLARSHIP AT CHARLES & KEITH ON WEDNESDAY, 23 MAY 2007 AT 3:55 PM

Mr Charles Wong and Mr Keith Wong

Managing Director and Director of Charles & Keith Singapore

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon

Introduction

I am delighted to join all of you here this afternoon. First, let me thank Charles & Keith and their staff for their hospitality in hosting this visit.

Retail: A Vital Industry

The retail industry is one of the key service sectors fuelling our economy. It is an important catalyst in our efforts to re-make Singapore into a vibrant and enjoyable place in which to live, work and play, and I would add, shop. Retail also plays an integral role in enhancing Singapore’s attractiveness as a premier business and tourist destination. In 2005, the retail industry’s 18,500 establishments generated some $21 billion in operating receipts and employed some 92,500 workers. With the optimistic economic outlook, and the expected boost to tourism from projects such as the IRs and the Formula-One race, the growth potential for retail is tremendous.

To tap this potential and make Singapore a leading retail destination in the world, to be among the best in New York, London and Milan, we need to build up our retailers. Today, we face increasing competition from retail destinations such as Shanghai and Bangkok. To maintain our edge, we will have to enhance our service and product offerings to retain local shoppers and attract more tourist dollars.

SPRING, our enterprise development agency, works with the industry to improve the competitiveness and resilience of our retailers. It has been working closely with our retail players to build up internal capabilities, such as IT and branding. SPRING is also helping retailers to gain access to timely market intelligence and learn best practices in operational efficiency so as to seize business opportunities.

People Development: A Key Success Factor

Being a service industry, retailing relies heavily on its people to innovate and experiment with fresh concepts and ideas. People development is therefore a key success factor for retailers. SPRING has worked with government agencies such as the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to help enhance the retail experience through enhancing competency and service. For example, under the Customer Centric Initiative, more than 20 of our largest retailers have provided service-related training for their 20,000 staff, or more than 20% of the retail workforce. This is indeed a positive sign and will help to raise the service level for the retail industry.

However, we need to do more. Statistics show that close to two-thirds of the retail managers have no professional qualifications. This is the level which can effect innovative changes to retail concepts and create the unique shopping experience for customers. Therefore there is an urgent need to upgrade our retail managers.

The National Retail Scholarship

I am therefore pleased to announce that the Singapore Retailers Association, WDA and SPRING are launching the National Retail Scholarship Programme.

To cater to the full spectrum of retail professionals, the scholarship will be offered at three levels – Diploma, Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree. A total of 80 scholarships will be awarded over five years. We hope that this will help cultivate the mindset that professional training is crucial to developing good retail managers.

Through this scholarship, we also hope to attract and groom talents to contribute to the retail sector, to professionalize retail management, introduce new retail concepts and give the retail scene a makeover.

Charles & Keith: A Model Company

Charles & Keith is an example of a local retailer that has internationalized, with an expanding brand name in ladies footwear retail. Today, the company has 17 stores locally and 96 concept stores in 18 countries overseas. I am happy to note that one of their key strategies is to develop their people to drive company growth.

I am told that Charles & Keith believes in investing in people, and has supported a number of staff in their tertiary education. It has groomed staff into professionals who can add further value to the company. I also understand that four staff will be supported by the company for further studies in retail this year, at the Diploma to MBA level.

Conclusion

I urge more retailers to work with agencies like SPRING and WDA to build up your manpower capabilities. I hope the National Retail Scholarship programme will encourage more retailers to raise the skills and professionalism of their employees. With better qualified and skilled staff, we are confident that our retailers will become more competitive and be able to grow and tap the growing opportunities.

Thank you.