Singapore Philadelphia Innovators Network (SPIN) &
Economic Development Board (EDB) Mini-Mixer
By Celine Tan, Batch 5
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SPIN was established by students at the NUS College in Bio Valley (NCBV) to heighten students’ experience outside school and work, especially in the area of entrepreneurship. As a member of SPIN, I recently had the opportunity to organize a mini-mixer with the Center Director of EDB’s Washington office, Ms. Cindy Koh.
Cindy is an NUS alumnus and immediately clicked with all of us despite this being our first meeting. During the networking dinner, we talked about almost everything under the sun - those things we miss about Singapore, as well as interesting things to see and do in Philadelphia.
One of the main objectives of this session was for NCBV students to understand the role of EDB from a global perspective. Being full-time interns working in various hi-tech startup companies, we are sometimes questioned about issues pertaining to the business environment in Singapore. This mini-mixer was aimed at giving students a better understanding of EDB’s efforts and initiatives, to enable all of us to be better informed ambassadors of Singapore.
“Sustaining Singapore’s Economic Competitiveness and Growth” was the first topic that Cindy presented. Many of us were pretty amazed that Singapore is actually a world leader in a number of manufacturing and services product. As an example, not only is she the third largest oil refinery globally, Singapore also makes 60% of container chillers and 40% of disk drives in the world. Not bad at all for a small country with a population of four million.
Cindy went on to talk about the pillars of growth for Singapore, one of which is the biomedical sector. The BioPolis of Asia that Singapore has built is a biotech ecosystem where researchers and manufacturers in the biotech pipeline leverage on each other’s capabilities to bring products to market. From basic research, product development to the delivery of healthcare products, BioPolis is gradually gaining a critical mass of companies that would lead the growth of the biotech industry in Singapore.
Cindy also gave broad and insightful analysis of the chemicals, electronics and supply chain management industries – the other pillars of growth. To many of us, understanding the position and direction of Singapore in developing its high-tech industries has made the prospect of bringing our companies’ technologies back to Singapore seem more viable now.
The session gradually became interactive as students raised a variety of issues pertaining to starting businesses in Singapore. From intellectual property enforcement to getting venture capital financing, Cindy gave a clear overview of the business environment and provided insights based on her own experience as well as the shared visions of the leaders of Singapore. When asked about the entrepreneurial spirit that the government is trying to nurture, Cindy gave a vivid description of the bold steps that our leaders are taking to encourage creativity in Singapore. However, Cindy cautioned that changes take time and we should not expect quick results. She gave an analogy which I still remember vividly.
“A big ship doesbn't change its course immediately when the captain turns the rudder.”
With that, the session ended with one final message that Cindy has for everybody – that is to “chase your dreams, but keep your hearts rooted to home”.