Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Installation Ceremony of the 57th SCCCI Council

总商会董事会会长和成员
总商会会员
各位先生、各位女士

大家早上好

1.    我很高兴能够出席中华总商会第57届董事会就职典礼。

2.    中华总商会成立于1906年，拥有非常悠久的历史。百多年来，总商会在推动社会，经济，文化和教育事业都很有建树，一直以来博得社会大众的尊敬，也对国家的发展作出积极的贡献。

3.    同样难得的是，总商会不为传统所束缚，而是具有前瞻性和开放的思维。从2010年开始，总商会在修改章程后，摒弃了一项延续了百年的传统，那就是不再根据方言族群背景推选商会董事，这是向前跨出的重要一步。此外，总商会近年来也不断自我更新，引进商界新秀，确保董事会年轻化，更有朝气。在新选出的56位董事中，就有14名是新董事，其中50岁以下的新董事多达一半，这是值得祝贺的现象。

4.    此外，总商会近年来也积极招募新会员，并且取得良好的成绩。过去四年，加入总商会的新会员超过1500个，使总商会所代表的经济行业更为广泛。从传统行业例如五金业和餐饮业，到比较高端的药剂业都有。这个现象反映了新加坡经济发展的趋势，也说明总商会会员与时并进，开发了许多新兴行业，为我国经济注入新的动力。

5.    我国社会和经济正进入一个转型期，我们必须有新的思维和策略，才能保持经济的活力，继续为新加坡人带来良好的工作，同时促进社会的流动性，以及加强扶贫济困的工作，使社会保持安定与和谐。我国企业也应该相应的作出调整，通过业务重组和创新，提高生产力和竞争力，并且减少对外劳的依赖。

6.    中小型企业为许多新加坡人提供就业机会，可说是我国社会和经济的重要命脉。国际竞争日益激烈，加上我国人口迅速老化，中小型企业不得不顺应新的环境，积极进行业务的提升。政府了解这不是容易办到的事，因此正在全力帮助中小型企业进行过渡。在上个月宣布的财政预算案中，政府出台了一个相当可观的援助本地企业的配套。我相信大家已经研究了援助的内容和细节，我希望各位能够付诸行动，充分利用这些措施，在业务的提升方面全力以赴。值得一提的是，政府在拟定援助中小型企业的配套时，得到总商会不少的协助。它为政府提供了宝贵的建议，使我们能够改进措施，最终提出一个更实际有效和更有吸引力的配套。在此我要特别感谢中华总商会。

7.    自殖民地时代以来，我国许多华商都很有关怀社会、回报社会的精神。作为华商的领导机构，中华总商会在促进商贸之余，不忘推广公益，也不间断地推动各种文化、教育与社区活动，为国家的发展做出了许多贡献。总商会最近领导完成的一项文化工作，是在晚晴园增添南侨机工纪念雕塑，以追思南侨机工在二战期间的英勇事迹，参与这项工作的还有其他三个华族团体。此外，总商会在政府的帮助下，已经在2011年完成晚晴园的整修和提升工作，使它成为我国一个富有价值的历史和文化纪念馆。

8.    总商会领导人也很关注华文华语的发展，在改进母语教育的工作提供了有用的意见，以实际行动支持双语双文化人才的培养，这包括开办商务华语课程。此外，多年来，我国开展的各种华族文化活动，总商会都积极参与，包括讲华语运动、华族文化节、“春到河畔迎新年”活动等。我国社会变化得很快，人民的价值观发生了根本的变化，我们到了一个关键的过渡时期。总商会和其他华人团体应该发挥影响力，使我国社会在一番破旧立新之后，能够取得一个恰当、稳定的平衡点。

9.    我们在促进社会和谐所面对的一个挑战，是新旧公民融合的问题。总商会领导层响应政府的呼吁，以实际行动帮助新移民融入社会。它在去年为新移民开办“生活达人实用英语课程”，让新移民掌握基本的英语会话能力。这是令人鼓舞的行动。

10.    最后，我要向卸任会长张松声先生以及第56届董事会表示感激。他们给予政府支持和配合，也为我们提供了不少宝贵的意见。我也要祝贺新任会长蔡其生先生和新一届董事会。预祝你们成功带领总商会攀上另一个高峰。

谢谢！

. . . . .

Mr Thomas Chua
President of the 57th SCCCI Council

SCCCI Council members

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

1.    It is my pleasure to witness the installation ceremony of the 57th Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council with you this morning.

SCCCI

2.    The SCCCI is an important business and Chinese community organisation. As a business organisation, you represent a wide range of businesses and businessmen. As a Chinese community organisation, the SCCCI plays a key role in promoting Chinese culture, and fostering inter-ethnic relations and local-foreigner relations. I mentioned several of your salient initiatives just now in my Chinese speech. The SCCCI Foundation also supports worthy causes, such as offering undergraduate scholarships to needy students, including non-Chinese students.

3.    The SCCCI also serves as a valuable channel of communication between the Government and the business community. The Government appreciates the valuable feedback from the community which has helped us to improve our policies, including for Budget 2013.

4.    One reason for your continued success is your commitment to renewal. You took an important step when you abolished clan-based representation on the Council in favour of professional and business interests in 2010. By introducing new blood and expanding your membership, the SCCCI has remained vibrant, forward-looking and inclusive. It has renewed its Council, and also broadened its membership base. Over the last four years alone, more than 1,500 new members have joined the SCCCI. Congratulations on your good work!

A NEW PHASE OF GROWTH

5.    Singapore is in transition. Our fundamental goals remain unchanged – to create opportunities for all; build a healthy economy and a caring society; and improve all Singaporeans’ lives. However, our circumstances have evolved. We are transitioning from the high growth rates of developing countries to slower rates typical of most mature economies. Our income gaps are widening, and we face new social challenges, such as caring for an ageing population and meeting the aspirations of a younger generation.

6.    We aim for quality growth and an inclusive society. We are raising productivity to rely less on foreign workers and to sustain real wage increases. We are maintaining social mobility so children from all backgrounds can continue to succeed on their own merits, and especially through our education system including pre-school education. We are strengthening safety nets to help those who fall on hard times pick themselves up.

7.    These complex challenges place responsibilities on all of us. For example, the Government has to strike the right balance between our economic and social goals. We must help businesses to upgrade; equip workers with the right skills, and ensure they are fairly rewarded for their work.

8.    We took a significant step towards these goals in this year’s Budget. The $5.3b Transition Support Package helps businesses adapt to the new environment, and especially helps SMEs to adapt. The Wage Credit Scheme helps companies share the cost of raising the wages of many Singaporean workers. We also expanded Workfare and provided more support for the middle-class, especially with their medical expenses.
 
9.    Our policies set a strong foundation for a bright future. But policies alone are not enough. We also need a healthy economy to create good jobs and generate resources to achieve our social and other goals. After all, it is businesses which create wealth, not Governments. This means that entrepreneurs and companies must break new ground, develop new businesses, and share the fruits of success with their workers. I know that this is not easy, especially for SMEs. Many are already struggling to cope with the tightening supply of foreign workers. The Government is doing our utmost to help as many SMEs as possible to succeed. Over time, I believe that we can create a more vibrant and competitive SME sector in Singapore.

10.    Despite the challenges we face, the outlook for Singapore businesses is bright. First, many Singaporean companies, including SMEs, have upgraded themselves and successfully seized opportunities overseas. Take for example Hai’s, which manufactures ready-to-cook pastes and sauces. It moved its manufacturing operations to Iskandar Malaysia, while retaining its knowledge-intensive functions here, such as R&D, management and trading. It thus reduced its operating costs by half, and expanded its business even further.

11.    Second, many foreign companies remain keen to invest in Singapore. One of them, for example, is Rolls-Royce, which just this week brought its entire Board and also its International Advisory Board to Singapore to hold a meeting here. I met them on Wednesday. Rolls-Royce has been in Singapore for half a century. Last year, I launched its Seletar Campus, which produces the latest Trent aircraft engines and the cutting-edge wide-chord fan blades for the engines. We are the only other country which is producing these fan blades outside the UK.
 
12.    Such an MNC investment brings many benefits to our economy and society. The Seletar Campus employs many local workers, most of them technicians and professionals, and pays them well. Its supply chain includes many local companies, including SCCCI members. One of them is Wah Son Engineering which supplies toolings and fixtures to Rolls-Royce. The MNC investment also contributes to the wider community. For instance, Rolls-Royce supports the Children’s Cancer Foundation and the MILK (Mainly I Love Kids) charities. Rolls-Royce could have established its Campus anywhere in the world, but they chose Singapore. We have to stay competitive and maintain our pro-business environment to continue attracting these quality investments and to make sure that Singapore companies also have an incentive to invest and grow their businesses in Singapore.

13.    Third, we have a first-class workforce. Singaporeans are well educated, hardworking and comfortable operating in both Asia and the West. Our excellent tripartite relations are also a key and enduring competitive advantage.

14.    Fourth, we are well located in the most dynamic region in the world. China and India offer many opportunities, especially in their smaller cities. Southeast Asia is making steady progress. Iskandar Malaysia offers companies a lower-cost option to base their operations (as Hai’s is aware). The planned high-speed rail linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is a game changer which will make for much closer ties between both cities. Myanmar is opening up and offering interesting opportunities to the bold and enterprising.
 
15.    Trade associations and chambers like the SCCCI can help businesses to succeed in this new landscape. You can identify new growth opportunities overseas, such as through your study mission to Myanmar last year. You can also help your members to raise their productivity and develop new capabilities in specific sectors, whether it is food and beverages or construction. By working together, we can build a vibrant economy and create many more opportunities for Singapore.

CONCLUSION

16.    Finally, may I thank outgoing President Mr Teo Siong Seng and the 56th Council for their many valuable contributions in the past two years. My warmest congratulations to the new President Mr Thomas Chua and the 57th Council on their election. I look forward to a fruitful partnership as we navigate this new, challenging and exciting landscape together.

17.    I wish you every success in the future.Thank you very much.