Your Excellency, Pierre Buhler,
Mr Jean-Luc Anglada, President of the French Chamber of Commerce Singapore,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting my wife and me tonight. Last year’s event was held in conjunction with the biennial French Festival and gave Singaporeans the chance to experience different facets of French culture and heritage. Tonight, we will witness the stunning designs of Dominique Sirop, showcased in Singapore for the first time.

2 Singapore and France enjoy close and friendly ties . We have also established a very fruitful cultural partnership over the years, having hosted many French cultural events such as the " Engraving the World: A Selection from the Chalcography Collection of the Louvre Museum" exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum from May to July 2007. This exhibition featured the royal collection of King Louis XIV and chronicles four centuries of prints in France. I thank the French Embassy and FCCS for their support.

3 We are also grateful for your strong support for our DesignSingapore Council’s initiatives last year. The 2007 Singapore Design Festival saw co-founders of French photo agency Sphinx, Mr Bruno Mouron and Mr Pascal Rostain, participate in the Festival’s feature event, “ Utterubbish”. Mr Dimitri Fague from Sensitive Object also lent support for the European Union-organised seminar called European Design Culture for the Festival.

4 Singaporean designers like Jonathan Seow of Woods & Woods, and jewellery designer, Shing from Argentum, have also showcased their creations at the Paris Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week Rendez-Vous Femme several times in the last few years. These premier international design platforms have given our local designers invaluable exposure.

5 One of our homegrown fashion designers, Mr Andrew Gn, is based in Paris. A recipient of the 2007 President’s Design Award, Andrew has designed pieces for Emanuel Ungaro and Pierre Balmain, and his personal collections have graced the leading fashion catwalks including that of Paris.

6 All these developments attest to the close multifaceted relationship between France and Singapore.

7 I wish all of you a memorable evening.

Thank you.