Honourable Former Minister Mentor, Patron of Business China, Mr Lee Kuan Yew;
His Excellency Wei Wei,
Board Advisers & Board Members of Business China;
CEO of OCBC Bank, Mr Samuel Tsien;
Distinguished guests, ladies & gentlemen,
Good evening!
1. It is indeed a double celebration for Business China today. We are gathered here this evening to witness the third Business China Awards ceremony and also to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Business China.
2. Tonight, we are very honoured to have with us our Patron, Former Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew. On behalf of the Business China Board, I would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Mr Lee for gracing this special occasion. It gives me great pleasure also to welcome all our distinguished guests who took time to be with us tonight.
3. Business China was launched in November 2007 by our Patron, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. We are a platform integrating language, economic and cultural elements. Throughout the past five years, we have been striving to promote bilingualism and biculturalism in Singapore, and deepen Singaporeans’ understanding of China.
4. Since our inauguration, Business China has been seeking collaborative opportunities actively with like-minded organisations, and progressing steadily on sound foundations. For the past five years, we have organised 143 multi-faceted quality events for a total of 31,000 business leaders, professionals and youths.
5. This year, to celebrate our fifth anniversary, we have presented 43 events, including the inaugural “Future China Advanced Leaders Programme”. In another key initiative, the “FutureChina Global Forum”, the strongest slate to-date of 68 esteemed international speakers spoke about the future development of an ever-changing China.
6. In our bid to nurture bilingual and bicultural talents of the future, Business China has been striving to upkeep the youths’ ‘China-Quotient’ through a wide array of programmes. From the surveys conducted at four different student forums, it was heartening to know that 90 percent of the respondents realised the importance of deepening their understanding of the Chinese culture as well as upkeeping their Chinese language skills. These were encouraging feedback and affirmation.
7. Following the successful proceeding of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Singapore – China bilateral relations are expected to scale to greater heights. Business China’s mission will be even more significant in years to come.
8. In the fifth year anniversary video interview, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said: “In another 30 years, China’s GDP will be equal or more than that of America’s, so it’s necessary for us, if we want to do business with them, to leverage both our cultural and linguistic affinities. We are close to them, we can do business with them.” Business China will strive towards fulfilling our mandate set out by Mr Lee by becoming the quintessential connecting bridge between Singapore and China.
9. On this joyous occasion, we would like to take this opportunity to honour exemplary individuals and organisations for their contributions to Singapore-China bilateral ties. The annual Business China Awards is significant. The past recipients were not only outstanding leaders in their respective fields, their contributions in bringing Singapore and China closer are also worthy of emulation.
10. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate this year’s award recipients in advance. Thank you for your extraordinary successes and generous sacrifices!
11. Last but not least, let me once again express my greatest appreciation to Mr Lee Kuan Yew for gracing the ceremony. And to our joint presenter, OCBC Bank, thank you for your continuous support in this prestigious award.
12. In addition, Business China would not have made such steadfast progress without tremendous support from all of you to our Board and Secretariat Your affirmation and contributions further strengthened Business China’s position to be the leading bilingual and bicultural platform.
13. Moving forward, I hope to have your continued unwavering support towards Business China, to further propel Singapore to greater heights.
14. Thank you!