DPM Lawrence Wong at P&G Singapore's 35th Anniversary Gala

Ambassador Kaplan,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very happy to join you tonight to celebrate P&G’s 35^th anniversary in Singapore.

Of course, P&G has a much longer history, going way back to 1837 when the company was founded. Your brands are trusted household names worldwide. If we do a straw poll, I think everyone has used a P&G brand at some point in time or another, and are probably still going strong. These brands have been trusted, reliable brands for generation after generation. There are very few companies in the world with such an illustrious history and track record. And that is something everyone in P&G and associated with P&G can be very proud of.  

That is why we are also very honoured that you have chosen Singapore to be your HQ for the Asia-Pacific. You have started here with a sales office of just 100 people. And now, you have more than 2,200 staff across different functions – designing, innovating, manufacturing products right here in Singapore for Asia and the world. It is truly an achievement! So tonight is a special night for everyone in P&G and also everyone associated with P&G – regardless of your age, young or old, everyone is 35 years old. So Happy Birthday!

P&G Singapore, in these last 35 years, has achieved several significant milestones. You were the first perfume manufacturing plant in Asia to make fragrances for P&G’s household products. Here in Singapore, you were the first Digital Innovation Centre or e-Centre outside the US, to help drive P&G’s digital transformation across the region. And you have, of course, the Singapore Innovation Centre here, which is one of the largest corporate labs in Singapore and also a hub for P&G’s R&D across the region.

Again, everyone in P&G has contributed to these significant achievements. And that includes the management team the staff, both past and present. I understand there are also in this room tonight some alumni from P&G. Let me take this opportunity to thank you all for your many contributions to P&G and to Singapore.

P&G’s origins in Ohio, America, seem very far removed from Asia; but in fact, there are some common threads between the P&G story and the Singapore story. We both started out around 200 years ago, from very humble beginnings, as Standa said just now. Modern Singapore started in 1819 when we were founded by the British as a trading post.  We had very little resources, we had precious little then. But we’ve survived and thrived as an open migrant nation. We’ve succeeded because we are always a little paranoid about our vulnerabilities, about what can go wrong. We are always striving to do better, and we are always looking to enhance our value proposition as a hub, to serve the region and the world.

We’ve learnt over the decades that what really makes the difference is strong partnerships. Because the Government – no matter how effective – cannot do everything alone; we need to work with partners. Partners such as leading companies from around the world, like P&G. Partners such as our tripartite partners, a system of tripartism that we have painstakingly built up over the decades, involving the government, our employers and our workers and unions. There is a strong reservoir of trust amongst all the different parties and very close collaboration. And partners such as our research institutions, universities, community organisations. By working together with all these partners, we build a reliable and trusted eco-system, one where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts, and where Singapore can always be relied upon to deliver results.

And that is the basis of the strong partnership we have with P&G, built up over the last 35 years. For example, your Innovation Center has close collaborations with A*Star, our local Universities and our hospitals. You work closely with our start-ups to develop promising new innovations. You have been a key partner in strengthening the capabilities of our SMEs. These are some of the collaborations we have built up over the last 35 years. We value greatly the partnerships that we have with P&G. This is why I am very happy to hear from Standa that you intend to further strengthen the partnership with plans for a new multi-million-dollar advanced manufacturing facility here. I was told details will be revealed down the road and we await eagerly for more comprehensive details of what this new facility will be.

I am also grateful that P&G has been doing more to give back to the community. You have made many contributions to the community over the decades, and especially in the last three years of the pandemic, where you have stepped up your support for amongst others, our migrant workers and frontline workers. We are very grateful for all that you have done, particularly in being a key partner in tackling COVID-19.  P&G employees also regularly give back to the community as volunteers, using their skills to help social enterprises and NGOs. For your efforts, the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre in Singapore has recognised you as one of the “Champions of Good”, and that puts you in the distinguished company of a select group companies that have been exemplary in doing good in Singapore.  

Your actions truly reflect your corporate motto – to be a Force for Growth and a Force for Good. In fact, Singapore shares very similar goals. We could literally adopt the same motto. The Singapore Story has been nothing short of a miracle so far. We want to keep the Singapore Story going – to remain exceptional and successful well into the future.  We want to keep growing but we also want the nation’s success to be shared by all – so we can be a fairer, more equal, more inclusive society; and we can create better lives for everyone in Singapore. And that is why we also want to be a force for good.

Unfortunately, there are formidable challenges ahead for all of us. A lot has happened in the last three years – from a global pandemic and war in Europe, to deepening big power rivalry in our part of the world. Notwithstanding the recent progress that has been seen in the US-China relationship. But these are powerful forces that will continue to shape the world around us for quite some time to come.

For the last three decades, we have all relied on certain economic conventions for shared growth and prosperity in this world – open markets, free trade, and maximum efficiency based on what made sense in the entire global supply chain. These are now being set aside or at least deprioritised in favour of over-riding national security considerations. That’s why we all feel a palpable sense of unease — the move away from an integrated global economy is accelerating, and no one knows where we are heading towards, or what will be the landing point for the new global order. 

But whatever happens in the external environment, we are determined that this little red dot called Singapore will continue to shine brightly.  We will continue to turn our challenges and vulnerabilities into opportunities as we have done over the decades, and we will push forward with confidence, however stormy the weather. We can achieve this only by working closely with our partners, especially those whom we share common values, and whom we have established a longstanding relationship of confidence and trust.  We are proud to have P&G as one such partner. We look forward to creating more successes with you and we look forward to growing together and doing good together for many more years to come.

Congratulations everyone on your 35^th anniversary and thank you.