Mr Cees van Lede, Chairman, INSEAD Board,
Mr Claude Janssen, Honorary Chairman, INSEAD Board,
Mr Frank Brown, Dean, INSEAD,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1 I am delighted to join all of you this evening for the concluding event of the international leadership summit. The theme of your summit is Asia. Asia is indeed going through an exciting transformation. If we can keep the peace for another generation, the growth here will surely change the world.
2. INSEAD Asia has been part of this transformation. The decision to establish the Singapore campus was not without risk. I remember the doubts faculty members had before the decision was made. I was Minister for Trade and Industry then. One day, EDB insisted that I meet some 20 professors. It was an intimidating experience for me as they put me through a viva voce. We are fortunate that INSEAD decided on Singapore in 1999 when we were not yet fully recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis. I believe it was the right decision. In some ways, INSEAD has grown together with Singapore, like us responding to the challenges of the future. The "one school, two campuses" concept has worked well.
3. INSEAD is now a pioneer in higher education. Today, INSEAD has 150 full-time students and over 3,000 executives from more than 50 countries in this campus. In fact, there are more applicants than the school can accommodate. With the campus here as a base, INSEAD has established links to many parts of Asia through its research centres and its partnerships with other institutions. One recent example is the tie-up with Tsinghua University on a joint executive MBA programme. I am not sure who is learning from whom, but both INSEAD and Singapore are globalizing in similar ways to seize new opportunities in the world.
4. The Singapore Government is committed to INSEAD's success. We share INSEAD's vision and we see a bright future for INSEAD Asia. INSEAD's presence has enhanced our Global Schoolhouse programme, which vision is for Singapore to become an international education hub. Under the Global Schoolhouse initiative, we have attracted 16 internationally renowned institutions including the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, S P Jain and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. For many of these schools, their campus in Singapore is their only one in Asia. Some of these schools, no doubt, learnt from the experience of INSEAD. These institutions help Singapore attract talent from all over the world to learn, play, work and live here.
5. We thank INSEAD for your contribution to our society and wish you continuing success as you near your tenth year in Singapore. As you train successive batches of business leaders, your influence in 21st century Asia will grow in tandem.
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