Minister Gan Kim Yong at the Press Conference on the New Cabinet Line-Up (May 2024)

First, I would like to join my colleagues to thank Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for his dedication and commitment in service to Singapore and Singaporeans. Over the last two decades, Prime Minister Lee and his team have laid a very strong foundation for Singapore which has given us the confidence to face an increasingly complex and challenging future.

I also want to thank PM Lee personally for his mentorship. I had the privilege to serve all three Prime Ministers. First as a civil servant under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Then as an MP under Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. And then, as a minister under Prime Minister Lee.

PM Lee has been a great leader and a mentor to me. Under his leadership, Singapore has become a more caring and inclusive society. I have learned much under his leadership and I am sure we will continue to benefit from his wisdom and his advice as a Senior Minister in the new Cabinet as we go forward.

I am grateful and humbled that incoming Prime Minister Wong has asked me to continue serving as a member of his new Cabinet. Although I am not quite 4G, as many of you know, it is indeed my honour to be given this opportunity, and I will do my best to support the new Prime Minister and his team.

It has been a pleasure working with Lawrence, first as a fellow MP in neighboring wards, where he is in Marsiling – Yew Tee GRC and I am in Chua Chu Kang GRC. We are adjacent to one another. We did many things together, many local projects together to benefit our residents. Then, as colleagues in the Cabinet and later as Co-Chairs in the MTF during the pandemic. I have seen his strong leadership, particularly in the midst of crisis. And now he has become Singapore's fourth Prime Minister to lead a new Cabinet and Singapore forward.

As Minister for Trade Industry, I will continue to focus on economic issues. I will work with various economic agencies and ministries to navigate through the increasingly complex challenges ahead of us. I will strengthen the resilience of our economy, create more opportunities for our businesses and our people, and nurture and develop our enterprises.

At the same time as DPM, I will support the Prime Minister. I will work with DPM Heng and with various ministries and agencies to coordinate a whole of government approach to formulate and implement key policies. The Strategy Group will help to assess and review these policies to ensure that they are consistent and appropriate. Together with DPM Heng, I will do my best to support the Prime Minister and help my younger colleagues in whichever way I can, to build a strong team that will lead us forward.

Thank you.