Speech by Minister Chee Hong Tat at the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition Opening Ceremony
Sep 29, 2025
Good afternoon. I am happy to join the opening ceremony for this year’s Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition.
To the teams, judges and guests from overseas, I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to Singapore.
Beyond the competition, I hope you will get the chance to experience our city, meet new friends, and build lasting connections and try our delicious food.
More than two decades ago in 2002, the Singapore Management University (SMU) launched the inaugural edition of this competition.
Named after the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, this competition was one of the first international platforms for student entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and receive support to launch their ventures.
Mr Lee was a firm believer in the importance of entrepreneurship and the need to create an environment that would encourage innovation and to unlock the potential in our people, including in our younger generation. In fact, in describing the way the Singapore government functions, he said that it is really not just about administration, but about entrepreneurship and innovation.
So I think this event, which is now going into its 12th year, and seeing the progress that SMU and your partners have made – I think Mr Lee, if he is still around today, would be very happy.
I am also pleased that today, the competition continues to embody these values, as a leading global platform connecting, inspiring and empowering young innovators all over the world.
Participants from previous competitions have gone on to launch startups that collectively raised more than 1 billion US dollars in funding.
So I look forward to seeing this year’s participants do the same – blaze new trails and make and leave your mark on the world.
Importance of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
This year’s competition takes place against the backdrop of profound global change.
The geopolitical and economic landscape is shifting rapidly, while climate change, demographic transitions and technological advances are shaping and reshaping societies everywhere.
In such an environment, innovation is not just important; it is essential.
It enables us to address the world’s most urgent challenges while creating fresh engines of growth for the global economy.
Paired with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and the vision and courage to take risks, we can reimagine possibilities and transform uncertainty into opportunity.
Singapore as a Global Innovation Hub
Singapore’s nation-building journey itself has been one of continuous innovation.
I mentioned earlier that LKY and his colleagues - our Pioneer Generation leaders - believe firmly that we need to innovate, take risks and encourage entrepreneurship. Over the past six decades, we have transformed our small island into a thriving global city and endearing home, despite our limited land and natural resources.
This did not happen by chance.
It was thanks to the bold vision and “can do” spirit ofr different generations of Singaporeans, that we have built up thriving industries and universities, fostered a pro-business environment and strengthened our linkages to the world through trade, financial and digital connectivity.
Looking ahead, we will continue to build Singapore into a global innovation hub.
We have put in place a robust ecosystem to support entrepreneurs, like yourselves, to leverage Singapore’s strengths in innovation, governance and connectivity.
You can partner our universities and also work with our research institutions to co-develop innovative solutions to tackle the most pressing urban challenges;
You can also use Singapore as a “living lab” by partnering with our agencies and our companies to prototype innovations through various sandboxes and testbeds;
And when you are ready, our network of venture capitalists and economic agencies stand ready to support you to commercialise your innovations and access the global market from Singapore.
The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition also serves as a gateway for young innovators to access and participate in our innovation ecosystem.
SMU has done a good job to put together a comprehensive suite of activities to support you on your journey, including networking sessions, masterclasses and investor matchmaking sessions.
Today, I am pleased launch the SMU Urban SustaInnovator.
This accelerator programme brings together venture capitalists, R&D experts, leading companies and public agencies to mentor promising urban solutions and sustainability startups.
Participants will receive guidance on fundraising, market access and R&D as you build and launch your ventures.
As you embark on your innovation journies, I encourage you to keep an open mind, be curious, be willing to step out of your comfort zones and take some calculated risks.
Let me share with you a story of the marble boat in Beijing’s Summer Palace.
This is a boat that was built by Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong, and he wanted it to be a symbol of his aspirations for the Qing Dynasty. He had hoped that the Qing Dynasty would be like the marble boat – unshakeable and unsinkable. Unfortunately, this boat was also un-sailable. It cannot move and is basically anchored, stuck to the shore; it is more like a stone pavilion.
But we don't build ships to park them in a harbour, when we build ships, it is for us to venture into the seas to discover new lands, despite the risks of encountering some storms.
Likewise, innovation requires us to take calculated risks. And when I say us, I don’t just mean entrepreneurs, but the whole society – the government, our financial institutions, our universities and research institutions and of course, society as a whole.
We must be willing to take some risks and accept some failures along the way. We may experience some challenges and hardships as we go about our innovation journeys, but this is one of the best ways to learn.
We cannot achieve new innovations by adopting a “fail-safe” approach, where there is zero tolerance for failure.
Instead, we need to embrace a “safe-fail” approach – where we can fail safely and treat failure as part of the learning process.
We can help innovators to experiment safely, while managing our risk exposure through pilots and regulatory sandboxes.
Singapore has adopted this approach in many sectors, including in the Built Environment, green energy, FinTech and healthcare, just to name a few examples.
When the innovations through such an approach prove to be successful, we can scale them up to achieve greater impact – not just in Singapore, but across the world.
In the Built Environment sector, for example, our agencies have set up the Building Innovation Panel (BIP) to fast-track the evaluation and regulatory approvals for innovative construction solutions.
Our agencies are also looking to accelerate the adoption of commercially viable technologies, including robotics solutions, through private-public partnerships and asset leasing arrangements.
Together, we can create a conducive environment for innovations to take flight.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by thanking our mentors, sponsors and organisers for making this competition possible.
And to all participants, this journey is only the beginning. I’m sure you will continue to dream boldly, innovate with courage and let your imagination light the way.
The challenges before us are immense, but so are the opportunities.
The world – even though it is a more challenging global environment – is yours to shape. But to do this, and for Singapore to remain an innovation hub, we must go against some of the emerging trends that we see globally, where countries are becoming more inward-looking, where societies are less welcoming to ideas and talent from abroad and where people are becoming less willing, less open to new ways of doing things.
We must go the other way so that Singapore can remain a place that is open and connected to the world, and welcoming to ideas and talent from all over. You may not be Singaporean, but if you have a good idea or good contribution you can make and want to be part of the Singapore family, we welcome you. Whether it is to work here or study here, or eventually take up permanent residence and citizenship – Singapore must remain as an open and welcoming society. Only then we can be a successful innovation hub.
Thank you and I wish you all a fruitful week ahead.