SPEECH BY DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN,MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS AND SECOND MINISTER FOR INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AT THE TATA CRUCIBLE, THE BUSINESS QUIZ, 24 OCTOBER 2007, 7.15 PM AT THE UNIVERSITY CULTURAL CENTRE

Ladies and gentleman, let me first say, this has been very humbling event. Especially for those of us who would like to think we are young but certainly older than all these participants here. I think all the participants have done really, really well. You are young, bright and quick people with wide interests, and capable of lateral thinking. Your future will be good. So, congratulations to all of you and especially to the winners.

I would also like to thank Tata for choosing to hold their first overseas competition here. There is actually a long history between the Tata Group and Singapore.

I want to say, on behalf of the Singapore government, that we appreciate the achievements of Tata and the close mutually beneficial business relationship we have had over the years. We are now witnessing a renaissance of that relationship. As India rises, Singapore continues to prosper as a key node in South East Asia. You may be aware that we signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement two years ago. Trade and investments, as well as a number of Indian companies and Singapore companies are all growing very well.

The future is bright and it offers many opportunities, especially for bright young people, to seize, as long as you continue to be quick and broad-minded and be able to draw multiple sources of information, put them together and paint a story. I think the winning team today illustrated that beautifully.

Let me end by congratulating all participants again, not just those on stage, but also many of you in the audience. And again, thank you to the Tata Group. It has been a wonderful occasion.