SMS Koh Poh Koon at the Singapore Business Federation Digitize ASEAN Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF TRADE & INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT DIGITIZE ASEAN CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, 19 JUNE 2017, 9:05AM, SBF SEMINAR ROOM

Mr Glenn G. Penaranda, Commercial Counsellor, Philippines Embassy in Singapore

Dr Robert Yap, Chairman of ASEAN Business Advisory Council Singapore

Mr Douglas Foo, Council Member of Singapore Business Federation

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

1.                  Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you today for the inaugural Digitise ASEAN Conference.

2.                  Digitalisation is catalysing growth in many industries and it will also transform the nature of our work and jobs. To stay relevant and seize new opportunities in the future economy, our businesses must stand ready to adapt to changes and embrace the digital evolution.

Importance of digitalisation in the Future Economy

3.                  The opportunities arising from the digital economy are significant. The digital economy in ASEAN alone has the potential to grow to US$200 billion over the next decade, with e-Commerce accounting for US$88 billion.

4.                  This is also the reason why the Committee on the Future Economy report identified the need to build stronger digital capabilities, so we can seize the growth opportunities offered by the digital economy.

Our Digital Economy strategy

5.                  The government will lead by example and build stronger digital capabilities through broad transformation projects such as the national digital identity system, cashless payments and the Smart Nation platform. By enabling the seamless exchange of information, these projects will help to accelerate the pace of digital adoption by private sector players.

6.                  We are a well-connected city and we must continue to be one of the best connected places in the digital world. To do so, it is critical for us to be a place where the latest and the brightest ideas can be test-bedded, for proof of concept. The Accreditation@IMDA (A@IMDA) is an example of our effort to support young, promising local infocomm companies in scaling up. Singapore is gearing up to capture the growth opportunities that the digital economy offers. There are new opportunities for collaboration across ASEAN and we are ready to partner together.

7.                  At the sectoral-level, we are focused on helping companies to adopt digital technologies and to be digitally ready. At the same time, we want to create more opportunities for both the young and old to pick up relevant digital skills. Mid-career professionals can also take courses to make a switch into this growing field.

8.                  Capturing opportunities often requires a joint effort. At the firm-level, our business culture must evolve and embrace innovation in a bigger way. The Data Science Consortium, set up by the National Research Foundation, is a platform for industry to access latest data science technologies from academia to solve market challenges. Together, companies and public sector research institutes can accelerate our transformation to Industry 4.0.

Digital-ready companies, digitally-savvy workforce

9.                  In the digitised world, our businesses face different challenges and may not have in-house expertise to develop the right solutions. To help SMEs increase their access to new technology, IMDA launched the SMEs Go Digital programme in April this year. The agency has since recognized and pre-approved over 50 digital solutions for SMEs to choose from.

10.              One example of a SME digitising is Seafood Park. This Food and Beverage merchant uses mobile ordering and payment solution to automate and integrate its processes. The digital solution allows the company to control new sales channels, customer and costs seamlessly. And as a result, Seafood Park was able to realise 50% operation and financial cost savings and a sales increment of 20%.

11.              Beyond solutions and platforms, we also invest in our human capital. Last year, the Government also launched the TechSkills Accelerator or TeSA to help working professionals acquire and deepen their ICT skills. TeSA offers support for those who are looking for new opportunities in the digital economy and interested to develop deep technological skills.

12.              Under TeSA’s Tech Immersion and Placement programme, Mr Thong Yong Jun secured a role as a software engineer in GovTech after going through a 12-week full time Web Development Immersive course at General Assembly. More than 10,000 professionals have benefitted from TeSA and the programme continues to help us bridge the digital talent gap.

Digital Economy – a priority for our ASEAN chairmanship

13.              Singapore will assume the ASEAN Chairmanship next year. We have identified E-Commerce and other initiatives relating to the digital economy as potential key priorities. The digital economy is a new focus area under ASEAN Economic Community 2025, and there is interest among ASEAN Member States to develop their e-Commerce capabilities.

14.              E-commerce is the new reality for businesses today. Improving the operating environment is crucial to allow businesses to leverage on the rapidly changing environment. Singapore will work with the rest of ASEAN to streamline regional trade rules governing e-commerce to promote greater digital connectivity and lower operating barriers to entry. This will enhance the regional trade architecture for e-commerce, realise freer movement of e-commerce goods across Southeast Asia and support the regional expansion of companies based in ASEAN.

15.              We welcome your inputs to ensure that our priorities remain relevant to the business community, and I look forward to your support to SBF’s ASEAN 2018 agenda, notably in the area of e-commerce. 

Conclusion

16.              In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Singapore Business Federation for organising this conference. I am confident that our continued efforts to build stronger digital capabilities will allow us to capture the most of the opportunities arising from the digital economy. I wish you an enjoyable and fruitful time at today’s conference. Thank you.

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