It stretches the imagination to think of Singapore as a centre for the automotive industry.
And it takes an even greater leap of faith to sell the idea overseas. And yet that is exactly the kind of thing Mr Jayson Goh did for the Economic Development Board (EDB) when he started as a senior officer more than six years ago.
True, Singapore may never have its own marque of cars. "But all cars are becoming smarter, equipped with intelligent transport systems, sensors, microchips, even hard drives, so it’s an area for Singapore to be involved in," Mr Goh, 31, said.
From working for the EDB as an industry officer overseeing the automotive sector, he moved on to help develop Singapore as an intellectual property hub during his secondment to the Ministry of Law. He subsequently went back to EDB to set up the intellectual Property Strategic Business Unit.
Now, he is a director of the EDB’s San Francisco office, scouring the west coast of the United States (US) for companies that might want to invest in Singapore and use it as their base in Asia. He travels, meets people and looks for new companies, new technologies and new trends, bringing them to the island to keep the economy competitive.
The main selling points are the infrastructure, connectivity, people, security and the business-friendly tax environment. And Mr Goh is focusing on high-end, high value-added manufacturing and services, where Singapore can claim an advantage over other countries in the region.
One example was his role in attracting the DigiPen Institute of Technology to set up here, which was announced last December. DigiPen plans to offer degree programmes in 3-D animation, simulation and game development. This will be its first and only campus outside the US.
"The challenge for Singapore is to continuously reinvent itself," he said.
"Look at Silicon Valley. From the 1940s to today, it has been reinventing itself, leading the world’s technological revolution. It didn’t just base itself in one industry."
This is the way forward here too, he added. "Singapore has developed industries ranging from electronics to petrochemicals and now, biomedical. The challenge for us is to identify the next industry which will fit into our economic model and bring about growth and job opportunities for years to come."
A straight-A student from Raffles Junior College, Mr Goh could easily have moved to where the wealth was. But instead of being a money magnet to himself, he prefers to attract investment for the nation. That was the allure of the EDB scholarship.
"I’ve benefited from a system that helped me to study overseas, and I wanted to make sure that the system continues to help others. That’s what motivates me. I want the Singapore economy to do well, to continue creating jobs. And I can contribute to that," he asserted.
He obtained his first degree in electrical engineering from Imperial College, London, and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, in the US.
The more he travels round the world, the more he appreciates his homeland. And while he misses people here at home, he admires America.
"I admire their readiness to embrace new technology," he enthused. "I’m no geek, but as an engineer, I can marvel at what new technology can do."
And he is struck by how cosmopolitan his patch is, attracting talent from all over the world. He sees this as another advantage for Singapore---to have global talent sparking ideas off each other.
That means dealing with the best and most innovative people.
"A job with the EDB is not for the faint-hearted," he warned. "When you’re face-to-face with a chief executive officer of a multinational corporation, whose turnover is bigger than Singapore’s annual Gross Domestic Product, you can really feel the adrenaline."
"And as you progress through the Board, the job keeps getting better and things get more interesting. As long as you have the passion, every day at the job is a new learning experience."