California Gov. Gray Davis and Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew Headline Silicon Valley-Singapore Technology Summit.

     Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

    SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2000--

    TechVentures 2000 Seeks to Promote Hi-Tech Ties Between Silicon
                         Valley and Singapore

    Singapore's National Science and Technology Board, the key driver
of the nation's technology entrepreneurship development, announces
today &uot;Singapore TechVenture 2000 -- Making the Connection.&uot;
    The event, scheduled for March 8-10 in San Francisco, aims to
encourage high-tech business partnerships between Silicon Valley and
Singapore. Singapore TechVenture 2000 features keynote addresses from
California Governor Gray Davis, Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew and Chairperson of Singapore's Technopreneurship 21 Ministerial
Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tony Tan.
    The Singapore-U.S. Business Council is co-hosting this event.
    In addition to featuring these three high profile figures, the
inaugural conference will also provide an opportunity to catch a
glimpse of some of Singapore's leading start-up companies as they
prepare to make headway into the U.S. marketplace. More than 20
Singapore-based companies will be presenting and exhibiting throughout
the event.
    &uot;This is an excellent opportunity for some of Singapore's most
promising companies to demonstrate their capabilities to the U.S.
marketplace,&uot; said Teo Ming Kian, Chairman of NSTB.
    &uot;Singapore is fast-becoming a hotbed for emerging companies and
innovative, high technology talent. We are looking forward to
showcasing the technological strengths of our local start-ups while
also demonstrating Singapore's regional potential to prospective
international partners,&uot; he added.

    The aims of the conference are:
-0-
--   To introduce Singapore's effort in supporting technology
     entrepreneurship and technological capabilities to the U.S.
     audience

--   To inform audiences of Singapore's conducive climate for
     investing in, and growing, high-tech start-ups

--   To increase Singapore-U.S. collaboration in the technology
     entrepreneurship area
-0-
    This event is targeted at the U.S. venture community, including
venture capitalists, investment bankers, analysts and entrepreneurs
who are keen to establish operations in Singapore, and use it as a
launching pad into the diverse Asia-Pacific marketplace.
    More than 200 participants from the venture community have been
invited to attend this exclusive event. The Singapore contingent is
estimated to be 100 representatives strong, and will feature players
from high tech companies representing a wide-range of different
industries and venture investment firms as well as leading businesses.
    This is the first time that TechVenture, an annual event that was
started in Singapore three years ago and has served to broker many
hi-tech partnerships, is being held overseas.
    Keynote address and panel discussions will be featured throughout
the conference. As a sampling of the technologies and capabilities
existing in Singapore, more than 20 Singapore-based high-tech
companies will be attending the event, making presentations and
demonstrating their technologies.
    For more information, please visit the event's Web site --
www.techventure2000.com.

    About NSTB

    The National Science &Technology Board (NSTB) is the lead
government agency providing focus and direction to Singapore's
technopreneurship drive, and spearheading the nation's capability
development. NSTB's main goals are to promote technology
entrepreneurship in Singapore and to promote and strengthen the
country's technology infrastructure. For more information, please
visit our Web site at www.nstb.gov.sg

    About Singapore-U.S. Business Council

    The Singapore-United States Business Council was established in
1996 to further enhance cooperation between Singapore and U.S.
companies, as well as promote trade and investments between the two
countries, and in the Asia-Pacific region. The Council has routinely
initiated and participated in many activities that promote bilateral
cooperation.
-0-
         Singapore TechVentures 2000 -- Making the Connection
                           Conference Agenda

-0-
8th March 2000 (Wednesday)
Carnelian Rooms

From 6:00 p.m.            Cocktail Reception
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.     Gala Dinner
                          Welcome address by Gray Davis
                          Governor of California

9th March 2000 (Thursday)
Ritz Carlton

From 7:30 a.m.            Breakfast and Registration

9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.     Welcome address

9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.    Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tony Tan
                          Chairman, Technopreneurship 21 Ministerial
                          Committee
                          &uot;The Singapore Technopreneurship
                           21 Framework&uot;

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.   Coffee break

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.   Timothy Draper
                          Founder and Managing Director,
                          Draper Fisher Jurvetson
                          &uot;My vision of Asia for technology
                           investments&uot;

12:15 p.m. - 1.45 p.m.    Sit Down Luncheon

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.     Panel Discussion chaired by
                          Dr. Kok Peng Teh
                          President, GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd
                          &uot;Investment Opportunities in Asia&uot;

                          Panelists: Henry Cornell, Managing Director,
                                      Goldman Sachs (Asia)
                                     Mark H. Daniel, Managing Director,
                                      Bain &Company (Singapore)
                                     Boon Hwee Koh, Chairman,
                                      Singapore Telecom
                                     Lip Bu Tan, Founder &Chairman,
                                      Walden Investment International
                                      Group

3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.     Coffee Break

3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.     John Dean
                          Chairman, Silicon Valley Bank
                          &uot;The next wave in Technology Financing&uot;

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.     Cocktail Reception

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.     Dinner Address with Q& by Senior Minister
                          Lee Kuan Yew
                          &uot;The knowledge-based era and
                           entrepreneurial capitalism --
                           implications for Asia&uot;

8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.     Dinner

10th March 2000 (Friday)
Ritz Carlton

From 7:30 a.m.            Breakfast

9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.    Panel Discussion chaired by Lit Cheong Chong
                          Managing Director, National Science &
                          Technology Board
                          &uot;Technopreneurship 21 -- the blue-print for
                           hi-tech businesses in Singapore&uot;

                          Panelists: Pol Hauspie, Co-Chairman, Lernout
                                      &Hauspie Speech Products NV.
                                     Thomas Ng, Managing
                                      Director, Venture TDF Pte
                                      Ltd
                                     Issac Stein,
                                      President, Waverley
                                      Associates, Inc.

10:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.   Coffee break

10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.   Panel Discussion by Wong Hoo Sim
                          Chairman &CEO, Creative Technology
                          &uot;The Singapore-Silicon Valley
                           growth model&uot;

                          Panelists: Kee Lock Chua, President,
                                     MediaRing
                                    Leslie Loh, CEO &Managing
                                     Director, System Access Pte Ltd
                                    Dr. Robert G. McNeil, General
                                     Partner, Sanderling Ventures
                                    Professor AnnaLee Saxenian, City &
                           Regional Planning, UC Berkeley
                                    Toon King Wong, Chairman &CEO,
                                     SilkRoutes Holdings

12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m.   Lunch at the Courtyard

1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.    Investment Forum
                         Presentation by Companies

From 1:30 p.m.           Brokerage discussions
*T
-0-

     --30--jb/sf*      pb/sf

     CONTACT: National Science and Technology Board
              Stacy Ang, 650/592-3309
              [e-mail]
               or
              Shandwick International
              John Jordan, 650/596-5800
              [e-mail] or
              Sharon Sim-Krause, 650/596-5800
              [e-mail]

     KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS INTERNET HARDWARE
SOFTWARE