DPM Heng Swee Keat at the 26th Annual SME Conference and Infocomm Commerce Conference 2023

Mr Kho Choon Keng, 
President, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI)

Leaders of trade associations and chambers and business leaders.

A very good morning to all of you!

I am happy to join you at this year’s SME Infocomm Commerce Conference (SMEICC). A very warm welcome to our friends from the region who have joined us here today. The past year has been a mix of ups and downs. While many businesses were lifted as the economy reopened after COVID, the geopolitical situation and high interest rate environment have dampened growth. The global environment has become less favourable, with supply chains fragmenting, and more restrictions being placed on trade and investment. These have put pressure on business costs, including for our companies as shown by the survey that Mr Kho mentioned earlier. Singapore has coped relatively well so far. We have strengthened linkages to different parts of the world, and our infrastructure and regulations are trustworthy. I am happy that we have businesses from our region – Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia – who are here with us today. Nevertheless, we cannot be complacent. The world is facing structural changes in many areas – demographics, technology, climate, and trade. Singapore, as a small country, must anticipate and prepare for these shifts. 

Leadership is key

It is therefore timely that this year’s theme is “Leadership Next: Rising Above Adversity”. Leadership is crucial for any organisation. As Mr Kho mentioned earlier, this year is the 100th birth Anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee and his team has done an excellent job in bringing Singapore from Third World to First. The importance of leadership for a small country with no natural resources like Singapore is something Mr Lee has repeatedly mentioned. Singapore, he said, would be “finished” if we did not have good leaders. Leadership matters at all levels and across all sectors. Take the COVID pandemic for example. The Government stepped in decisively with five Budgets and committed nearly $100 billion to support Singaporeans and Singapore businesses, including through the Jobs Support Scheme. In tandem, business leaders took care of their employees, while community partners and volunteers stepped up support for those in need. We also brought leaders from different sectors together, through the Emerging Stronger Taskforce, to learn from one another, uncover new opportunities, and rise above adversity. Leadership, exercised at every level and sector, coupled with a strong sense of common purpose, has enabled Singapore to emerge from COVID stronger and more resilient. 

In this regard, I would like to commend our Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), especially the SCCCI, for exercising leadership and supporting our SMEs. TACs play an important role in our business landscape. As the ears, eyes and voice of your members, you not only articulate the interests of your members, but also bridge communications between them and the government, and mobilise colective action. I am glad to see our TACs always thinking about how to serve your members better. In recent years, you have been crucial in driving industry transformation and supporting the work of the Future Economy Council. You ensure that our SMEs are included in broader efforts such as the various Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). In particular, the SCCCI, as one of our largest TACs, has consistently leaned forward to strengthen the capabilities of fellow TACs, and empowered them to lead transformational projects for their respective industries.  At the Trade Association Hub at the Old Jurong Town Hall, smaller Trade Associations have been riding on SCCCI’s shared secretariat services to build up their capabilities. In addition, the SME Centre@SCCCI has provided business advisory to more than 50,000 enterprises over the past decade. During the COVID years, it helped 10,000 enterprises transform and stay resilient. Well done SCCCI!

Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate

I’ve spoken about leadership, but there is an equally important theme that underpins everything that I’ve described, which is partnership and collaboration. Collaboration ensures that we are aligned in our actions and outcomes. Collaboration also enables us to tap on one another’s strengths, to achieve more ambitious outcomes. This is important for a small country like Singapore. At the industry level, the ITMs seek to foster collaboration and collective ownership among the different stakeholders – government agencies, enterprises, unions, workers – in the transformation journey. At the enterprise level, the respective TACs are important organising platforms for smaller companies to come together, exchange ideas, and explore mutually beneficial collaborations. And across the TACs, collaboration can uplift capabilities. The TAC Competency Framework and Growth Model is a good example of this. The SCCCI developed this last year with support from the Singapore Business Federation, Enterprise Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore, to help our TACs remain relevant and effective to their industries and members.

As we enter the next phase of Singapore’s development, we must deepen collaboration to move ahead and stay ahead together. Let me highlight two areas where this will matter. 

Transformation

First, collaborate to transform our industries and enterprises. Every company and every industry faces common challenges such as climate change, sustainability and an ageing workforce. The ITMs provide as a roadmap for every industry to address these challenges, chart out new opportunities, and transform together, so as to remain relevant and successful. Our TACs play the important role of translating the ITMs into concrete actions and follow-ups, and supporting our companies in their transformation journeys. For example, individual companies may lack the scale or capability to incorporate new requirements like automation, digitalisation and sustainability into their businesses. Our TACs can offer practical solutions. For example, the “Sustainability Alliance” initiated by the SCCCI in collaboration with SGTech and the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, will guide and support our SMEs in adopting sustainable technologies and practices. There are also instances where the TACs have supported enterprises in achieving their ambitious transformation plans. Synergy 4 Tech started out as a micro-SME of two engineers providing scanning equipment and on-premise servicing. With support from the SME Centre@SCCCI, it has transformed into a technology company that offers integrate testing and evaluation services powered by AI software into their X-ray and CT scanners. This has increased their efficiencies, reduced operating costs, and enabled them to scale their business internationally. 

I am most heartened when I see our companies self-organise to drive transformation collectively. For example, Kuok Maritime Group and 17 other partners formed the Coastal Sustainability Alliance to co-develop solutions and build capabilities for a low-carbon future. One of the Alliance’s first projects is to encourage vessel electrification, to reduce the carbon footprint of harbour crafts. I hope to see more instances of companies and TACs coming together to transform and build a better future. 

New opportunities

Next, I encourage companies and industries to collaborate and seize new opportunities to grow. I am glad our TACs have been encouraging our companies to do this. For example, the Kranji Countryside Association, with SCCCI’s support, is rallying its members to develop fresh ideas to turn Kranji into an eco-tourism destination. Our companies can also benefit by collaborating with larger players and contributing their expertise. A good example is G8 Subsea, a local enterprise that developed and delivered the world’s first and largest floating solar substation for EDP Renewables APAC, a multi-national enterprise. Such a collaboration strengthens G8 Subsea’s standing as a leading provider, and strengthens the case for EDP to drive more projects out of Singapore. As we collaborate to grow new areas like advanced manufacturing, sustainability and agri-technology, we can generate even more opportunities for our enterprises. I hope our enterprises and TACs will actively engage the ecosystem, to identify new partnerships and broker many fruitful collaborations. 

Many of our enterprises are eager to grow beyond our shores. The Singapore brand name is a trusted one, which puts our enterprises in good stead when they venture overseas to chase opportunities. SCCCI plays an active role in our SMEs’ internationalisation efforts, particularly into China. Besides having presence in four Chinese cities (Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and Nanjing), the SCCCI organises regular seminars for their businesses to gain market insights and first-hand knowledge on the latest business outlook and trends. I am therefore happy to hear that SCCCI and Enterprise Singapore are deepening their partnership further through the launch of GlobalConnect@SCCCI. Congratulations! Focused on China, this will enable more Singapore companies to leverage SCCCI’s experience and networks to enter the Chinese market with confidence. 

Besides China, the broader Asia region holds great promise for our companies. SCCCI recently mounted business missions to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, to help companies explore new opportunities.  In fact, we have many of you from neighbouring ASEAN countries joining today’s conference. There is also the Singapore Business Federation-led GlobalConnect@SBF, which helps businesses expand globally. I hope to see more collaboration between SCCCI and SBF to help companies access market opportunities in the region. We have also successfully adopted the consortium model, where our companies come together to access overseas opportunities. By bringing complementary expertise together and leveraging one another’s strengths, consortia can co-develop and jointly market comprehensive service offerings. A good example is the consortium of four SMEs brought together by EnterpriseSG to provide smart city solutions in India a few years ago. By tapping on the lead partner Excelpoint Technology’s networks, consortium members secured nine projects worth $650,000 during the first round. With this success, EnterpriseSG has led a second consortium of nine companies in 2022 to explore opportunities in the Internet of Things (IoT) space. 

I have so far spoken about the importance of collaboration to transform our economy and seize new opportunities. You may be wondering why I have not mentioned competition yet. After all, the conventional wisdom is that companies must compete, and your KPI as business leaders is to ensure that your company survives and succeeds. Promoting competition has always been a tenet of Singapore’s economic policy. We are one of the most open economies in the world, and have many MNCs operating alongside our SMEs, so we must always ensure that there is fair competition. Competition keeps our businesses fit and strong, which in turn enables our workers to upgrade and progress. 

Yet even as we compete, we must also cooperate and collaborate. Competition and collaboration are not opposite choices. We compete to become more efficient and innovative. Competition enables us to build our distinctive brands and capabilities. At the same time, we should collaborate to solve common problems and challenges together. Pooling our expertise can also enable us to seize bigger opportunities. In other words, we must build a spirit of ‘co-op-petition” and get the best of both worlds! Competition sharpens and strengthens our companies, but we must set our sights beyond Singapore’s small domestic market and venture into the world market, where there are more opportunities.  When we move from a small fishbowl to a big ocean with strong currents, it is better that we cooperate and collaborate, to increase our chances of survival and success. This is how Singapore can build distinctive strengths as a small, open economy, serving the world. Let me say a few words in Mandarin. 我们有一句俗语，“有竞争，才有进步”。我们在面对竞争的情况下，往往能突破局限，打造出自己独特的长处。与此同时，如果我们也能群策群力，就能更好地把握机遇，互惠互利. 所以，我希望大家在竞争的同时，也不忘合作。

Let me share a concrete example of this. I recently visited Switzerland, which has many big and successful companies, as well as distinctive family businesses. A large and well-known precision engineering company that I visited told me that they were training more apprentices than they needed. Why? So that the rest who were not hired by the company could work for their competitors! I was stunned, but then they explained that if there were a shortage of skilled workers, the reputation of Swiss precision engineering would be lost, and “all of us will lose”.
 
I hope that in the same way, our companies can learn from the Swiss. Do not just train for ourselves, train for others as well if we can do it. This is a very remarkable and enlightened thinking on the part of the Swiss company. I hope that our companies can adopt his duo-perspective – help ourselves and help others -, so that we can grow together, and maintain our high trust and good reputation together. I encourage every company to compete and innovate, yet at the same time, also come together to collaborate to solve common challenges and chase opportunities together. And I call on our business leaders to exercise leadership and build distinctive strengths and expertise for your companies, while also looking out for how you can bring these strengths to uplift the whole ecosystem. This way, we can set our sights even higher, create and capture value for all, and strengthen the Singapore brand. This will enable our companies to continue growing and thriving, and our workers to have a better future.

Conclusion

I thank the SCCCI for inviting me to this conference and to all our trade associations, I would also like to thank you for your leadership and support in charting the course of our future economy. i look forward to exploring new partnerships that will uplift our enterprises, and secure Singapore’s next bound of success. 

All the best, and thank you.