Mr Lee Yi Shyan at 3rd Singapore-Jiangsu Coporation Council Meeting, 25 Nov 09

CLOSING SPEECH BY MINISTER OF STATE LEE YI SHYAN AT 3RD SINGAPORE-JIANGSU COOPERATION COUNCIL MEETING 25 NOVEMBER 2009, WUXI, JIANGSUPROVINCE

Your Excellency Party Secretary Liang Baohua,

Your Excellency Vice Governor Zhang Weiguo,

Distinguished Council Members,

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Good morning!

I am very happy to be here today at this gathering of friends from Jiangsu and Singapore in the beautiful LingshanBrahamPalace. With the success achieved in the previous year and the agreement of the council’s new focus for 2010, we are nearing the close of the 3rd meeting of the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council, or the SJCC.
After hearing our achievements for last year, and the focus areas we have set for next year, I am heartened to see that both sides have started to explore new frontiers through the council. I see at least three ways in which this is taking place.

Spreading of investments across a wider geography

First, Singapore companies are moving beyond traditional cities such as Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou in the southern part of the Yangtze River into other Jiangsu cities such as Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yangzhou and Lianyungang.
Singapore’s flagship project with China, the Singapore-SuzhouIndustrial Park for example, has taken active steps to internationalise and chosen the city of Nantong to replicate its success. At the council meeting last year, the SIP Administrative Committee, China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Co. Ltd. and Nantong Economic and Trade Development Area Administrative Committee signed a Letter of Intent to develop a 50-sqkm industrial zone and township. I am happy to have attended the groundbreaking of this Suzhou-NantongHighTechPark in May this year.
Of the 90 over new investments by Singapore companies in the first nine months of this year, many went to other Jiangsu cities as well. I am confident that this geographical expansion will continue, especially with the recent endorsement of the Jiangsu Coastal Development Plan by the State Council as a national level strategy. This strategy augurs well for Jiangsu’s overall development, levelling up the growth of northern Jiangsu coastal cities with the booming southern cities. Jiangsu’s coastal cities, led by Lianyungang, Yancheng and Nantong are an important part of the Yangtze River Delta and could become the new economic growth poles for Jiangsu and the region. The focus on these cities will open up new opportunities, particularly in areas such as ports management, urban solutions, environmental services, and transport and logistics, where Singapore companies are strong in.

Innovative Collaboration

Second, our focus industries have gone beyond manufacturing and real estate towards the development of soft skills and high-tech, services industries. This is in line with Jiangsu’s ongoing industrial upgrading and economic restructuring to move up the value chain, particularly in the coastal cities heavily impacted by the global economic crisis. To dovetail Jiangsu’s industrial upgrading, the SJCC Work Plan 2010 will continue to emphasise on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the six key areas: namely trade and economic collaboration, environmental services, vocational and technical education and education exchanges, tourism, science and technology, and training.
Specifically, as Minister Khaw highlighted, there is vast potential for Jiangsu and Singapore to deepen our collaboration in environmental services. After the presentation by the General Office of Lake Taihu Water Pollution Prevention and Control and my visit to LakeLihu yesterday, we now have a better understanding of the various issues surrounding the entire Taihu management. Since our meeting with Governor Luo Zhijun in Singapore, we have been actively shoring up interest from the private sector and exploring with our Public Utilities Board on the possibility of Singapore’s participation in Taihu’s clean-up and conservation. The magnitude of effort required to do this will no doubt be much larger in scope and complexity compared to what Singapore has experienced back home. However, we believe that there are niche roles that Singapore as a whole, can play.

Singapore companies’ niche capabilities and high-tech water treatment solutions can contribute to Jiangsu’s efforts to restore Taihu’s ecosystem. On the government front, Singapore’s Public Utilities Board will be happy to share its experience in cleaning up water catchments, also in terms of policy and the enforcement of pollution control measures.

Singapore enterprises can kick-start this collaboration by identifying one to two cities to develop demonstration projects. A few Singapore companies such as Hyflux, SembCorp and Keppel have already expressed interest to explore this. Hyflux has, in fact, approached the Suzhou Water Resources Bureau and Suzhou Water Affair Conservancy and is in the midst of putting up a feasibility study proposal for one of their water plants using its advanced membrane technologies. Hyflux is recognised as Asia’s leading environmental services company in membrane technology research and application. It is building the world’s largest seawater desalination plant in Algeria, and has built a seawater desalination facility in Tianjin, the largest of its kind in China. Sembcorp has a Zhangjiagang wastewater treatment plant and Keppel has extensive experience in waste management and energy generation. As such, I believe that Singapore companies have the capabilities to contribute to Jiangsu’s water management sector.

As the coastal cities undergo industrial upgrading, Singapore’s development experience, such as master-planning, port and logistics and adoption of Infocomm Technology will be good reference points for Jiangsu. These areas are in tandem with Jiangsu’s developmental plans and Singapore’s strengths. For example, as the province progresses, implementing e-Government solutions will be one way to enable the seamless delivery of services to the public as well as integrate across government functions. Singapore’s experience in e-Government implementation will hence be very relevant for the province.

The software aspects such as having a ready pool of skilled workers are also crucial as the province looks to sustainable growth. In this aspect, Singapore’s training providers such as PSBAcademy is working with Wuxi to jointly develop a Business Process Outsourcing Talent Hub.

Multi-sectoral collaboration projects

Third, we have adopted a new and more holistic approach towards facilitating investments into China. Singapore’s economic transformation has long been upheld as a model to emulate by many developing countries keen to tap on the Singapore Government’s experience in urban planning, energy management, waste and water management, e-Government, healthcare, education and seaport / airport development. The private sector has grown along with our country’s development, accumulating deep knowledge and rich experience in providing integrated and sustainable urban solutions. Singapore’s efforts to strengthen its external economy by helping Singapore companies internationalise have also spurred a more closely-knitted Public-Private-Partnership. This partnership and our successful track record, have allowed Singapore to offer sustainable turnkey urban solutions, its key differentiating factor, to governments of developing new cities and townships.

The Singapore-NanjingEcoHigh-TechIsland is a good example of this. The Singapore Consortium expanded its value proposition by bringing together diverse expertise and capabilities from Singapore government agencies and Singapore enterprises. A commercially-driven project facilitated under the ambit of the SJCC and supported by International Enterprise Singapore and the Nanjing Government, this collaboration is a breakthrough in terms of its value proposition and business model. I would encourage both sides to explore similar win-win collaborations in future, as the benefits can be wide-ranging and impactful.

As an Advisor to the project team, the companies have been keeping me updated on the progress of the project. I am very pleased with its achievements so far. As an indication of its early success, we will be witnessing the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding on this project. 2009 has been an eventful year for the joint venture company with many project milestones fulfilled. As the project enters implementation stage, there will be new challenges along the way. But I am confident that with the strong support from the Jiangsu and Nanjing governments, the team will overcome these challenges and achieve new heights at next year’s council meeting.

Conclusion

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China. As highlighted by President Hu Jintao at the meeting with Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, this sets the stage for reviewing of bilateral ties and exploring of ways to bring relations to a new level (继往开来). President Hu also noted that many Chinese provinces were very interested to conclude economic cooperation with Singapore, with seven bilateral business councils already in place. With Jiangsu being one of the seven, I hope that 2010 will be a year of breakthrough for Singapore-Jiangsu bilateral relations, and that we will have many worthy developments and outcomes to mark this special occasion.

In closing, I would like to thank all members for joining us in the meeting today. It was heartening to see the active participation from council members during the discussion session. The SJCC has done well this year, but let’s aim to achieve even more in 2010.

Thank you!