Speech by Minister Lim Hng Kiang at the 2015 Global Trader Dialogue at Capella Singapore, Sentosa

"Under the Gaze: The New Stage of Global Trading”

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening. It is my pleasure to join you at the 2015 Global Trader Dialogue.

Singapore’s Value Proposition as a Global Trading Hub

Singapore’s trading industry has come a long way since the 1960s. Today, Singapore has grown to become Asia’s largest commodities trading hub.  We are home to the vast majority of the world’s largest commodity trading companies, who generate 1.3 trillion US dollars in annual turnover

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. This extensive network of buyers and sellers, as well as key supporting players along the entire commodity value chain, creates an effective and neutral marketplace for global traders to structure your deals. Our industry consultations clearly show that this is the strongest reason why traders choose to be based in Singapore.

As a global financial hub, Singapore also has the capacity to finance almost one-third of all Asian trades. We are the third largest global foreign exchange market, with the best USD liquidity in Asia. In recent years, we have also grown to become the largest offshore RMB hub. As commodity trading becomes increasingly Asia-centric, global traders can tap on deep liquidity in Singapore to finance their high trade volumes, at the best prices.

Singapore is one of the most connected cities at the heart of Asia.  Many traders appreciate that their procurement and marketing teams in Singapore can fly conveniently to most sources and markets in Asia within six hours. Singapore also offers excellent physical infrastructure and logistics capabilities. We are ranked 1st in Asia in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, with the best Seaport in Asia. This is complemented by our excellent processing and storage facilities. For instance, an oil trader managing physical flows from Singapore has the flexibility to redirect any shipment from multiple sources, and calibrate product grades by tapping on the 11 million cubic meters of storage capacity here.

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  This can be delivered to his customers in multiple markets, in the most reliable and cost-effective manner, to fetch the best margins.

Ranked first in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index in 2014, Singapore offers political and economic stability, as well as a strong legal and arbitration framework.  This helps traders mitigate the risks of holding assets out of Singapore, and gives them the confidence to invest in key infrastructure and capabilities here. Singapore also offers an exceptional quality of life that is attractive to top decision-makers from major global companies, which is a key part of our network advantage that I mentioned earlier.

Talent as a Critical Advantage Going Forward

Looking ahead, I would like to elaborate more on what is fast becoming our critical competitive advantage – Asia-centric trade talent. Over the years, we have built up a robust talent pool of 14,000 professionals across key commodity clusters and various segments of the commodities value chain. Our highly qualified workforce, openness to top global talent, as well as cultural and linguistic connections across Asia, make Singapore well-placed to grow such an Asia-centric talent pipeline. This will allow us to better support our trading companies as well as the larger global trading community. We have done so through existing efforts such as the Singapore Management University’s International Trading Institute, and the establishment of the International Chamber of Commerce Academy in Singapore.

To supplement these initiatives, IE Singapore has partnered the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to develop the International Trading Programme (ITP). It will allow students from multiple fields such as engineering, business, and maritime studies, to be trained concurrently in trade-related courses.  Graduates will develop a deep understanding of the entire commodity value chain, especially in the context of key Asian producers and markets. This will also provide opportunities for Singaporeans to access good jobs and internationally-oriented careers in the vibrant trading sector, in line with the national SkillsFuture initiative.

I am pleased to announce the successful partnership between NTU and the pioneer batch of five companies for the NTU ITP, namely Borouge, Bright Ruby Resources, Chevron, Petrobras and Wilmar. Thank you for your significant contributions to the programme. We look forward to working with more industry partners to continue developing our trade talent.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I am confident that Singapore will continue to add significant value to global trading companies.  We look forward to continuing our successful collaborations with you to capture more growth opportunities prevalent in Asia.

I wish you all the best in expanding your networks and establishing fruitful business partnerships at this event. Thank you.

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Source: Figures from IE’s Annual Global Trader Programme (GTP) Survey in 2013

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Source: “Singapore Oil Hub Expands to Neighbors after Outgrowing City-State”, WSJ, Jan 23, 2014