TAS Infocommunications Industry Forum

Mr Leong Keng Thai, Director-General Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS) Speech - TAS Infocommunications Industry Forum

Mr Leong Keng Thai, Director-General
Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS)
Speech - TAS Infocommunications Industry Forum
Singapore, 1 April 1999

1. It is indeed my great pleasure to welcome everyone to the inaugural Infocommunications Industry Forum organised by TAS.

2. I believe all of you here today are already aware of TAS' role as a policy maker and regulator of the infocommunications industry. Although these functions have very much been the main activities of the Authority, an increasingly important role TAS undertakes is to promote and develop the infocommunications infrastructure and industry. In playing this role, TAS would like to focus efforts on fostering innovation and development of advanced infrastructure and technologies. This will also encompass the nurturing of a home-grown infocommunications industry with the vision of helping them go regional or global.

3. The Industry Forum is organised with the intention to provide a platform for networking and for the forging of strategic relationships amongst the members of the infocommunications industry in Singapore. The Industry Forum is also to serve as a means to disseminate and share information on technologies available here. From where we are, we find that quite often, local companies look to overseas for certain technologies whereas the technologies could already exist here in Singapore. Conversely, the local companies and research institutes who possess the technologies may look to overseas for commercial partnerships. Sometimes, the solution we are seeking is right in front of us and we fail to see it. TAS hopes that the series of Industry Forums would help local companies stay more connected with one another and increase the awareness of the technological competencies available right within the local industry.

4. Apart from those objectives mentioned, the Industry Forums would also serve as a communications link between TAS and the industry. Through the Forums, we hope to gain a better understanding of the needs of the local infocommunications industry. Only with your valuable feedback and input would we be able to serve you better.

5. The Forum today will begin with a presentation by TAS on an overview of the infocommunications industry in terms of its current status, TAS' policies and developmental strategies for the infocommunications industry. This will be followed by a demonstration of the Infocommunications Industry Database. I believe this comprehensive database would serve as a useful resource of information as well as a bridge for local companies to reach out to the global market.

6. In the afternoon, we have lined up a series of speakers who will be sharing with you the various technologies developed by their companies as well as the possibilities that such technologies present for collaborations in business opportunities. The topics today are fairly diverse, bearing in mind that we would want to cater to a wider spectrum of the industry present here in this inaugural Forum. Subsequent Forums will be more topic specific and will include discussions such as broadband technologies, 3rd generation mobile, internet networking to name a few.

7. I urge you to participate actively in the Forum to make it an interesting and rewarding time. These Forums are meant to serve you as members of the industry and they would be as successful as you want them to be. Thank you for making time to attend this inaugural Forum. I would like to take this opportunity to extend an advance invitation to you to join us in future Forums. I wish you an enjoyable and fruitful day.

8. Thank you.