National IT Industry Summit 1997

RAdm (NS) Teo Chee Hean, Chairman, National IT Committee (NITC), Minister for Education, and Second Minister for Defence Speech - National IT Industry Summit 1997

RAdm (NS) Teo Chee Hean, Chairman, National IT Committee (NITC),
Minister for Education, and Second Minister for Defence
Speech - National IT Industry Summit 1997
Singapore, 27 November 1997

1. The government and the local IT industry have jointly set up a S$50 million Multimedia and IT Co-Investment Fund to help build a vibrant industry for IT innovations and multimedia content development in Singapore. The fund will be jointly managed by the National Computer Board (NCB) and the Singapore Federation of the Computer Industry (SFCI). To be operational in April 1998, this fund will be used to co-invest with SFCI's member companies in promising start-up multimedia or IT companies that have difficulty in raising the capital to expand and grow. By taking a stake in these start-up companies, which can be a foreign or local company, the local industry can acquire new technologies and capabilities, and gain access to markets overseas.

2. The fund will leverage on the National Computer Board's existing industry development mechanisms, such as the Local Industry Upgrading Programme (LIUP) to identify good candidates within the SFCI stable of member companies for co-investment, both as investment partners as well as investee companies. The objectives of LIUP are congruent to that of the fund. LIUP is a win-win partnership that seeks to help local companies leverage on the market reach and tap on the technology capabilities of their more established multinational partners. The multinational companies or project sponsers, on the other hand, will generate more business for themselves as they invest in developing the capabilities of their local business partners. A LIUP company, for instance, could co-invest to take a stake in a foreign technology company in order to augment its own capabilities. The fund therefore not only leverages on LIUP but also adds value to LIUP itself.

3. The fund can also augment the government's internationalisation efforts to facilitate the local IT industry's access to global markets, resources and information. For example, Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada on cooperation in information and telecommunications technology. This MOU sets the stage for further joint efforts by the industry and the public sector from both countries in advanced networking, research, education, industry and electronic commerce. This collaborative framework can subsequently be expanded to facilitate more participation from other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and other parts of the world. It will create tremendous opportunities for the local IT industry to enter into partnership with foreign technology companies for market access and technology transfer.