Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the LEAD Partners Dinner 2014

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Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry

 at LEAD Partners Dinner 2014, on 29 August 2014, 1905hrs, The Westin Singapore

Presidents and Exco members of Trade Associations and Chambers,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening.

1.               It is my pleasure to join you this evening at the LEAD Partners Dinner. We meet every year to celebrate a year of achievements by the various TACs. We also take this opportunity to affirm all your contributions which made these achievements possible.

TACs play a key role in helping SMEs restructure

2.               As leaders of your respective industries, you are uniquely placed to champion best practices and effect quantum-leap improvements for the industries. You do so by partnering with government agencies and like-minded companies to chart out development roadmaps ahead of us. You have led by example. We need you to continue to drive changes to transform our industries, to render them more competitive and innovative.

3.               The LEAD programme, jointly administered by SPRING and IE Singapore, has been a key resource platform for the agencies to empower TACs

for their work in industry upgrading and transformation.  Since 2005, LEAD has supported 30 TACs on 53 industry-upgrading projects, totalling more than S$160 million and benefitting about 38,000 local enterprises.

4.               Many of these LEAD projects were very meaningful, especially in our context of us wanting to achieve 2-3% productivity growth every year for this decade. Productivity growth at the firm level requires individual firm’s ownership and actions. Productivity growth at the industry-level would require members of the value-chain to work together, vertically and horizontally, to create synergistic linkages and platforms for information flow and opportunities for collaboration. In this way, all firms can benefit from a more integrated industry structure to achieve higher productivity and better utilisation of resources.

Strengthening capabilities through innovative solutions

5.               Let me cite a few examples.

6.              Consider the Container Management System (CMS) implemented by the Container Depot Association of Singapore (CDAS).  The CMS pulls together information on the whereabouts of individual containers so that container depots and transport operators know where they are for the purpose of truck movement planning. With CMS, participating companies can greatly reduce queue times and avoid congestion at container depots.

7.              Consider another project called the “SME Energy Efficiency Initiative” proposed by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS). This initiative aims to raise awareness and drive energy efficiency improvements amongst SMEs. The project’s goal is to enable 300 SMEs to achieve at least 10 per cent savings in energy costs over the next three years. So far, its industry outreach efforts have benefitted more than 50 SMEs.

Supporting talent development and skills matching

8.              Another area of horizontal collaborations amongst industry players would be in the realm of human resource development. This is such a critical area of work because without the depth of talent pool and expertise, we will not be able to transform our industries to the advanced league.

9.              You may be aware that SPRING launched the SME Talent Programme (STP) last year to help TACs and their members groom and place talents from ITE and the polytechnics. The STP has met with enthusiastic participation by a number of TACs. It is a good sign.

10.           The Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) is one of the eight participating TACs on the STP.  To catalyse interest in the F&B sector, RAS has organised more than 20 field-trips and company visits for students to understand how the industry works.  RAS has successfully matched over 80 students to over 20 SMEs. SPRING is actively working to expand this programme to other sectors, and I hope those TACs not already on the STP would consider joining.

Capturing opportunities in overseas markets

11.           While working on capacity building, our agencies are also mindful of the need to boost industries’ export markets and presence overseas. Increasing sales and revenues are a sure way to raise productivity.

12.           One good example is what the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) has done to help food manufacturing companies seize opportunities abroad. Through a Working-in-Partnership (WIP) project, SMF took food companies to overseas supermarkets for road shows.  Specifically, in March this year, SMF led 16 Singapore food companies on a two-week long supermarket road show in Citymart – a leading chain of supermarkets in Yangon. They are planning to do the same in Cambodia and China later on.

13.           Similarly, the Textile and Fashion Federation (TaFf) used LEAD to help young Singapore designers seek business leads in the US. It resulted in confirmed sales of more than S$100,000.

14.           Many TACs have also made use of the International Marketing Activities Programme (iMAP) to attend overseas tradeshows and missions. Since 2002, iMAP has supported more than 40 TACs for 1,800 tradeshows and missions, benefitting over 11,000 SMEs.

Conclusion

15.           Ladies and gentlemen, our quest for higher productivity requires individual and collective actions. While individual firms are taking active steps to re-engineer and innovate, we will do well when our industries also come together to take on difficult but impactful industry-level restructuring and transformations.  We need bold plans and ambitious targets to stay ahead.

16.           I therefore encourage all TACs to take on this challenge to set up clear visions and bold plans to help your members succeed. We are partnering you for this journey towards excellence.

17.           My heartiest congratulations to all the recipients of the LEAD Awards. Thank you.