Meet The Ambassador

Free Trade Agreement Fashion Presentation: Remarks by Ambassador Frank Lavin
August 27, 2004

Minister Lim, Lee Yi Shyan, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to join you this evening and add my support to the Free Trade Agreement Fashion Presentation.

I am grateful to Cotton Incorporated, Cotton Council International, and the Textile & Fashion Federation of Singapore for bringing together for the first time U.S. yarn mills with Singapore designers and manufacturers. From an embassy perspective, we want to do everything we can to promote U.S. business. We want to do everything we can to promote U.S. culture. And we want to do everything we can to build goodwill in Singapore. In all three respects, this Fashion Presentation promises to be a splendid success.

And on a personal level, Ann and I have a special place in our hearts for the comfort and ease cotton has brought to our home life. From our bed sheets to the shirt I am wearing right now, cotton has always been a part of our household, so I feel honor bound to return the support this evening.

We know that our work on the Free Trade Agreement helped spark this mission to Singapore, and we are proud of that success. But at the end of the day, all we can do from the government side is remove the impediments and open the door to commerce. It is up to the Americans and Singaporeans to walk through that door, to show the flexibility to win the sale, to do what is necessary to keep the customer happy.

In that regard, I want to commend the American participants for traveling to Singapore. It is very difficult to initiate a business relationship unless there is some sort of personal relationship. Face to face beats fax to fax. Remember, you are not just selling a product, but you are attesting to your reliability as a supplier, in effect as a business partner. View your Singapore discussions as closer to job interviews than to a sales call. And plan on returning soon.

Let me conclude with a challenge and an observation. As visitors can quickly gather, Singapore consumers have only one request: they simply want the best. Singaporeans are among the most sophisticated and most demanding shoppers anywhere, and their port gives them access to everything the world has to offer. Singapore merchants and textile manufacturers are no different in their desire for excellence. This can be a bit daunting for the overseas business that seeks to enter this market.

That’s the challenge, and here’s my observation: The United States Cotton Industry produces the best. We have a wonderful product, and we will work with the customer to meet his requirements. Give us a chance to show this to you. Give us the opportunity to earn your business. Please don’t send these American visitors home empty-handed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Singapore economy is in full expansion. Consumers are opening their pocketbooks. Companies are developing new lines and new markets. This is the moment that Singapore companies ought to think about new products, and new relationships. To adapt a phrase for the occasion, “the fish are jumping and the cotton is high.”

You want the best. We offer you the best. Let’s be a bit bold, a bit creative, and let’s do some business.

Thank you very much.