His Excellency Andreas Michaelis,

German Ambassador to Singapore

Professor Peter Zec,

President, Red Dot Germany

Mr Ken Koo,

President,Red Dot Singapore

Ladies and gentlemen

Good evening

1.            Red Dot is a name that many in the design industry are familiar with. It is one of the oldest and most renowned design institutions in the world that is dedicated to promoting top quality design. Every year, it convenes the Red Dot Design Awards, which is like the Oscars of the film world, and draws more than 4,000 participants worldwide, ranging from manufacturers to designers. Winners of the Red Dot Award represent the highest standard of design and they include names like the Apple iPod, Lamborghini, Sony and BMW Designworks.

2.            Red Dot will be administering its new Concept Design Award in Singapore, which is its first category of awards to be based and managed outside of Germany. With this as a backdrop, you will understand how meaningful today’s opening ceremony is to Singapore. Red Dot, the arbiter of design, by choosing to base itself in Asia, has moved Singapore closer to its vision of being a design hub.

Design: A Key Enabler for Singapore’s Manufacturing Sector

3.            Design can make all the difference between the success and failure of a product. Good design creates a winning edge, sets your product apart from your competition and generates greater sales volume. With mediocre or poor design, it would be difficult for a product to compete, even if it offers other benefits over the competition.

4.            Today, all of us are familiar with Apple’s iMac and iPod. Their refreshing designs and attractive candy colours make even the non-IT savvy person give it a second look. When I see the new Volkswagen’s Beetle on the roads, I cannot help but think how design makes a difference. By building strong design capabilities in Singapore, I hope that the next iMac, iPod or Beetle can be developed in Singapore, and similarly take the world by storm.

Developing Singapore as an International Design Hub

5.            EDB’s vision is to develop Singapore into an internationally recognised hub for industrial design where the Singapore brand name for industrial design is recognised globally. We have the key advantages to help us become a world-renowned design hub:

6.            Firstly, we have a cosmopolitan society with peoples from diverse nationalities and backgrounds. This makes Singapore an excellent location for companies engaging in industrial design as we understand the preferences and demands of the Asia Pacific and global markets better.

7.            Secondly, our strong intellectual property (IP) rights protection regime gives industrial designers peace of mind. The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have ranked Singapore No. 1 as having the lowest IP rights risk in Asia for 3 consecutive years. Designers know that their creations and innovations are well protected here.

8.            Thirdly, Singapore’s conducive business environment enables companies to commercialise products and innovations easily. In a ranking conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore was ranked No. 3 worldwide in terms of its overall business environment. The World Bank, in its latest report, also ranked Singapore amongst the top three economies in terms of ease of doing business.

9.            Last but not least, we have abundant talent in the area of industrial design. Already, our local talent pool is being augmented annually by graduates in product and industrial design courses from our very own tertiary institutions such as the National University of Singapore, Temasek Polytechnic and the Raffles-LaSalle Institute. In 2004, an estimated 450 students graduated from these schools. This annual influx of creative brains adds to the existing 30,000-strong talent pool which the industrial design industry is already tapping on. Together, they make up about 1.5% of our total workforce.

10.       Many companies have recognised Singapore’s strengths in industrial design and have tapped on these to design, test-bed and commercialise their products here. They include international companies such as Motorola, which in 2004 through its Singapore Design Centre, designed and manufactured four of the year’s top GSM handsets worldwide. Other familiar names such as Creative, OSIM, Philips, Panasonic and Hewlett Packard also design their products here.

11.       Our local companies have also produced some very good designs. I am proud to mention PSA Corp’s Z-Tech Tug Boat which won Red Dot’s “Best of the Best Award” in 2005. I understand that the tug is innovative in that they work as tractor tugs in harbour operation and for optimum freerunning. The tugs are designed for operation in ports and marine terminals where maximum crew safety and efficiency are essential.

Augmenting Singapore’s Position as a Global Industrial Design Hub

12.       The EDB will undertake 3 main strategies to further consolidate and grow the industrial design sector in Singapore:

13.       One, EDB will continue to encourage more companies, especially those manufacturing finished products, to undertake more industrial design activities in Singapore.

14.       Two, the nurturing of design talent and improving of the quality of industrial design education in Singapore is important. EDB will work with local institutions of higher learning to improve their courses and continue to attract reputable international design schools to set up their campuses here. With the availability of more quality courses and respectable institutions to learn from, I am sure the standards of industrial designers will be raised.

15.       Three, EDB will work with other agencies such as the DesignSingapore Council, which is spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications, Information and the Arts, to develop a vibrant industrial design ecosystem. Singapore wants to be the creative platform for companies and the magnet for the attraction and development of global design talents.

Conclusion

16.       With these strategies, I am certain Singapore will move in the right direction in terms of creativity and innovation. Creativity is already taking centrestage in the entire month of November with a series of events and activities celebrating and promoting the creative Industries.

17.       Today’s opening of the Red Dot Traffic Museum has given Singapore a new added vibrancy and energy. I would like to congratulate the management and staff of Red Dot on this happy occasion.

18.       Thank you and enjoy the rest of the evening.