DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Enterprise 50 Awards 2024

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, CEO, SPH Media Limited
Ms Lee Sze Yeng, Managing Partner, KPMG in Singapore
Ms Chen Huifen and Mr Chiu Wu Hong, Co-Chairs of the E50 Awards
Mr Linus Goh, Head of Global Commercial Banking, OCBC
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. I am delighted to join you to celebrate our top local companies today. Since tonight is about celebrating legacy, I should not miss an opportunity to talk about the legacy which our founding leaders left Singapore. During the COVID pandemic, every finance minister in the world supported their economy and people with additional Budget. I think I am the only Finance Minister in the world then to have spent $40 billion without borrowing a single cent, without burdening our future generation with higher taxes, because of our past reserves. It is a legacy that we must treasure, and which should inspire us into the future to ensure that we continue to have good economic growth and provide good opportunities for our people.

On that note, my heartiest congratulations to all the 50 winners this year, and a special congratulations to those who have won the 5 and 10-year awards, and the Special Recognition Awards for Sustainability Innovation and Internationalisation. 

Over the years, some of your early winners have now become very big companies, and many of them are listed too. So, this recognition is important for that reason too.

As Sze Yeng and Huifen said earlier - this year is a special milestone. 

So tonight, let us celebrate and recognise all who have grown the E50 awards. 

To the teams led by Patrick Daniel and Willie Cheng who had the foresight to recognise excellence in our local private enterprises since 1995. 

To the BT and KPMG teams for your longstanding involvement and support.

To Enterprise SG, the Singapore Business Federation, and other Government agencies and Trade Associations and Chambers. 

And to our corporate supporters and sponsors like the Singapore Exchange Group and OCBC. 

Thank you all for your confidence and support for our local corporates. 

Your theme this evening, “Celebrating Legacies and Inspiring the Future”, is timely.

We are celebrating the legacies of excellence, and to inspire all to climb new peaks of excellence, into the future. As Sze Yeng said earlier, it’s about celebrating not just economic success, but the social impact that you are making. Across the world we see deep divisions in many societies where the benefits of growth have not been distributed. So, it is important that we do this well.

Now, I should also say that other than selling drinks at trade fairs and helping out as a canteen boy when I was a little kid to earn some pocket money, I have never made a single cent running a business, so I speak to all of you with great humility. 

When I was a young policeman running departments and police stations, I tried to learn about how organisations achieve excellence. I read management books like "In Search of Excellence", “Built to Last”, and "Good to Great" to draw lessons. And I found them useful.

But more recent studies show that over time, some of the companies have continued to thrive while others have struggled or disappeared. Of the companies featured, two giants, Kodak and Sears— that once epitomised success ultimately faltered. This is a sobering reminder that running a company well for many years is indeed very challenging. 

And in fact, as Huifen mentioned earlier about all the acronyms that she used, you see how the competitive landscape is changing so rapidly. The terms, ‘VUCA world’ and ‘Change is Constant’ have been used so often that these are regarded as obvious and trite.  But trite does not mean it is not true. When I was working for Mr Lee Kuan Yew, his most frequent question was “So?”. He was always asking – SO, WHAT? What does this mean, what can we DO?  In a world where changes are happening so quickly. So let me, in all humility, suggest three things that we can do, and you will probably have many more. 

The first is to understand the megatrends that will affect our businesses, and make sure we position ourselves to ride the tailwinds and avoid the headwinds. 

Today, we face several megatrends that are reshaping the business environment and the global economy.

Global Economic Shifts — the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse is reshaping markets and supply chains. The ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions only add complexity, presenting both risks and opportunities for companies in Asia.  How will businesses in Singapore and the broader ASEAN region position themselves amidst this dynamic environment?    

Technological Transformation, especially digital transformation — rapid advancements in technology are redefining industries. Companies that leverage technological and digital tools to enhance efficiency, customer engagement, and innovation are much more likely to thrive in this new era.  

Sustainability and Responsibility — today’s consumers place a premium on corporate social responsibility. Companies prioritising sustainability and ethical practices are not just better positioned to attract customers and talent, but are also paving the way for long-term viability.

Regional Opportunities — ASEAN remains a vibrant market, ripe with potential. With a growing middle class and increasing consumer demand, successful companies can tap into the region’s dynamic economic environment. Businesses in Singapore can lead the way in innovation and logistics surrounding ASEAN, leveraging our strategic location and robust infrastructure.  

With these megatrends in mind, the second is to craft our strategy and build our competitive capabilities, ride on the tailwinds, and avoid the headwinds. 

Over the last 8 years at the national level, for the Singapore economy, the Future Economy Council has led efforts for our agencies and industries to embark on our economic transformation.

Through the Industry Transformation Maps, we have organised the 23 industry sectors to undertake integrated changes, through the pillars of: Productivity to support our companies move to higher value-added activities and raise efficiency. Innovation and the use of technology to enhance competitive strengths and to meet market needs. The redesign of jobs and reskilling of workers to ensure that our workers can grow together with the growth of companies. Internationalisation to grow our markets, especially in the ASEAN and Asian region. Resilience to withstand shocks such as the COVID pandemic; and now the supply chain disruption; and sustainability, to address climate change. 

I am very happy to see the progress that companies have made – and many of our E50 winners, past and present, are excellent examples of these transformations. 

Third, decide on which are the most critical competitive capabilities to develop. It is not possible for a company to do everything at once, nor to be all things to all people. Let me suggest 3 horizontal capabilities that all companies will need to grapple with. 

First, as Chairman of our National Research Foundation, I believe that science, technology and innovation will drive the future growth of many sectors.  

In particular, digitalisation and AI, together with robotics and automation, will reshape competition across companies and industries.  

Besides investing in basic research, we are promoting technology and innovation.  

The Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology or SWITCH this year saw a record 20,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. I hope some of you were there to interact with these companies. AI and sustainability innovation challenges were featured, and I am glad that when I visited, I saw many local companies taking part in this.

Similarly, the Singapore Fintech Festival is one of the largest in the world with 65,000 participants from more than 130 countries this year. 

I am confident that in this age of contestation, Singapore can serve as a neutral, trusted, Global-Asia node for technology, innovation and enterprise. I hope that this will bring many new opportunities to our companies and workers in Singapore.

Second, ultimately, the strength of any company rest on the strength of her people. At the time of rapid changes, attracting and developing our people is critical to our success. It is one of the best investments that any company can make.  

To support our companies and people, the Government has many support schemes, through the SkillsFuture movement. Our IHLs have very good programmes, at the postgraduate, degree, advanced diploma and diploma levels, and many modular units which we can take, to build up our qualifications. The NTUC has also set up e2i and Company Training Committees, to work with companies to reskill our workers. So do make the best use of these to grow your talent and capabilities, and invest in new areas like digitalisation and AI.

Third, enhance collaboration among our companies – even as competitors, we can work together. So I am glad to see many of our Trade Associations and Chambers co-locating at the old JTC building and working together. So I hope that e50 winners past and present, can also find opportunities to work together. 

In line with the theme of celebrating legacies and inspiring the future, let me highlight two past E50 winners which exemplify these: Oilfield Services and Supplies (OSS) is a family business which supplies oil and gas operations across the Asia Pacific and Central Asia.

With an increased focus on sustainability, OSS has been developing innovative tools to reduce overall wastage and help its customers reduce their carbon footprints.

A second example, INEX Innovate, was spun out of the National University of Singapore in 2006.

Today, it focuses on prenatal screenings and diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer, and is one of the fastest growing companies in the Asia-Pacific.

So whether it is in harnessing technology, operating abroad, or stepping into new market opportunities, our legacies are an inspiration for the future.

I am sure there are many more inspiring stories from all of you tonight.

Next year, we will celebrate SG60, and E50’s 31st anniversary. I encourage our local enterprises and SMEs to continue your journey of innovation and excellence.

Let us continue to strengthen corporate capabilities to tap on technology, to innovate, and to improve our resilience and sustainability.

Let us also work with our workforce to support these efforts, and reward them by sharing the successes of your businesses. Congratulations once again to all our E50 winners. I look forward to many more E50 champions in the next 30 years, and many more Singapore brands which will shine in the region and the world. Thank you very much.