Dear Mr Stefan Wenzel, Parliamentary Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action,

Dear Ms Shirley Qi, President of SGC,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year’s AGM meeting holds particular significance, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the SGC in fostering trade, business and bilateral relations between Singapore and Germany.

My heartiest congratulation for this remarkable milestone.

Today, we are proud to say that Singapore is home to about 2,200 German businesses.

In fact - the story of German businesses in Singapore started not 20 but already 200 years ago when the first German company was founded in Singapore on Beach Road.

You know the story…

Today there is no better institution in Singapore to promote German-Singaporean business interests than the SGC!

Please let me take the opportunity to highlight some initiatives that demonstrate the outstanding work of the SGC in the past year.

Last July, the German government unveiled a strategy aimed at reducing its economic dependencies on China.

This “Strategy on China” had surely raised many burning questions among German businesses not only in China.

The SGC saw the necessity to urgently provide a platform, for our members and stakeholders to delve into this hot topic.

Therefore, a “SGC Dialogue on China Strategy” was conducted not long after the strategy’s publication.

The event sparked insightful discussions with the takeaway that diversification of supply chains with other regions is key to economic resilience.

This clearly confirmed the importance of Southeast Asia as a destination for German businesses and investments.

Speaking of diversifying economic ties, the SGC has unequivocally positioned itself in favour of an EU-ASEAN FTA to boost the competitiveness of companies in both regions.

In this context, the SGC conducted a survey among member companies and successfully launched a Position Paper, titled “Why German Businesses Support an EU-ASEAN FTA”.

This paper underlines the pressing need to resume the negotiations for the region-to-region free-trade agreement.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Balakrishnan joined an enriching dialogue hosted by the SGC to share his insights on the importance of an EU-ASEAN FTA.

He applauded the SGC for its advocacy for the FTA and its continuous engagement to get negotiations restarted.

I was not surprised to see the SGC Dialogue session making headlines the following day.

To me this is yet another example demonstrating that the SGC reacts ahead of trends and understands what really matters to their member companies.

The SGC is also an “exporter” of the German dual vocational training system - another German “Exportschlager”.

As you know, this unique education system consists of theoretical as well as practical aspects, and is highly regarded worldwide.

Funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the SGC has started exploring the so-called “Skills Expert Program” with German SMEs and schools in Singapore to train up young local workforce.

This program is still under way, but it proves that the SGC is far-sighted to take early action, in line with the Singapore government’s move to upskill their workforce.

It is a win-win initiative that mutually benefits the German businesses and Singaporeans.

What I highlighted just now, are just a handful of examples of how the SGC is doing an excellent job in the interest of its German and Singaporean member companies and by driving us all forward.

Ladies and gentlemen,

From my perspective the SGC is also one of the most important pillars representing the German community in Singapore.

So please let me take a moment to appreciate the dedicated SGC team for your tireless work and support.

My very special thanks go to Shirley Qi for her outstanding work as President and with whom I am always able to liaise closely.

Thank you for your work and your friendship!

And to Tim Philippi, who has been the soul of the SGC for twenty years and with whom I have had the pleasure of working for almost four years now.

I am confident that no matter what challenges may lie ahead of us we will be able to rely on an outstanding SGC for the next 20 years as well!

Thank you very much!