Mr Lim Hng Kiang's speech at the Signing Ceremony of the UK-Singapore Economic & Business Partnership Agreement, 31 Oct 2011

​MR LIM HNG KIANG'S SPEECH AT THE SIGNING CEREMONY OF THE UK-SINGAPORE ECONOMIC & BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, 31 OCT 2011

Dr Vince Cable,

UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be here today for the business lunch and the signing of the UK-Singapore Economic and Business Partnership Agreement. Allow me to take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable to Singapore.

EBP to further strengthen trade and economic ties between Singapore and the UK

The agreement that we will sign later marks yet another milestone in the longstanding relationship between Singapore and the UK. Our excellent ties are underpinned by strong and robust trade and investment linkages. The UK is Singapore’s 3rd largest European trading partner and 15th largest global trading partner. Last year, Singapore’s bilateral trade with the UK reached S$15.9 billion, accounting for close to 16 per cent of our total trade with the EU.

Our bilateral investments have also been substantial. The UK is Singapore’s 2nd largest investment destination, after China. Over the last decade, our stock of direct investment into the UK grew 14-fold from around S$3 billion to reach S$42 billion in 2009. Significantly, this represents more than three-quarters of all investments into Europe by Singapore businesses. Meanwhile, the UK is Singapore’s 4th largest investor, with a stock of S$48 billion in 2009, up from around S$10 billion a decade ago.

Beyond the numbers, the close relations between the government agencies from both countries also attest to our strong partnership in many fields - from politics, defence, culture, education to R&D.

From an economic perspective, we have similar outlooks and characteristics as well. Both Singapore and the UK are strongly pro-trade and for open markets. Both want to focus on high-tech, high-value added sectors for our continued economic growth. Both countries are convenient gateways and financial hubs for our respective regions.

The launch of the Economic and Business Partnership, or the EBP, today therefore builds on a very strong foundation of excellent relations and common interests. Our aim is to forge an even closer economic partnership that is dynamic and responsive to our fast-changing external landscape.

Priority areas for cooperation

There are three key pillars of cooperation under the EBP: business cooperation, R&D cooperation and policy exchanges. Under business cooperation, both sides have identified key priority sectors to focus on, including urban solutions, clean technology, information and communication technology, creative services, and education. These sectors will enable companies from both Singapore and the UK to better exploit the growing commercial opportunities in urbanisation, the rising middle class, and the IT revolution.

Take for instance urban solutions and clean technology. Today, the UK is a leader in many types of renewable energy. Its low-carbon environmental goods and services market is the sixth largest in the world[1]. Many British companies are also committed to developing clean tech and low-carbon technologies. Meanwhile, Asia is experiencing rapid urbanisation. This will spur demand for urban solutions in areas such as infrastructure development, water and waste management, transport management, clean technologies and urban planning.Singapore, being a compact city located in the heart of Asia, can be the “Living Laboratory” for British companies. We have several dedicated and large-scale public sector test-bedding projects where companies can create, demonstrate and commercialise cutting-edge solutions before scaling up for the regional and global markets. For instance, the upcoming CleanTech Park which marks Singapore’s first eco-business park, will be located in the western part of Singapore, next to the Nanyang Technological University. This is to enhance the integration between the academia, research institutes and business industry, and provide synergies for full value chain on the clean tech industry.

For the R&D pillar, the EBP will allow Singapore and the UK to intensify our already excellent R&D cooperation through frequent exchanges between our research institutes and universities – the most recent being a workshop on maritime engineering held in Southampton that was co-organised by A*STAR and the University of Southampton in April this year. The EBP will focus on emerging areas such as energy, medical biotechnology and interactive & digital media. With commercialisation of R&D being a key policy preoccupation in both countries, we can cooperate and share experiences in this area as well.

Regular policy exchanges are another key thrust of the EBP. This is timely as policy challenges become more complex, and governments increasingly have to think of innovative solutions in areas such as intellectual property or look further ahead in terms of scenario planning. Through regular exchanges, we can learn from each other and work together to better respond to the global business environment.

Singapore and UK as Gateways to Asia and Europe

Asia and Europe are two important economic regions. With China and India as the key engines, Asia is set to become an important growth market for companies around the world. With a population of about 600 million, and economic integration plans afoot, ASEAN too will present more commercial opportunities. Meanwhile, even though the euro zone sovereign debt crisis has been dominating headlines, the EU remains a key economic partner of many countries, including Singapore. It is still a large market and remains home to many top global companies.

By virtue of our geographic locations, outward orientation and cosmopolitan nature, both Singapore and the UK are well-positioned to be complementary gateways to both the Asian and European markets.This is another area that both sides can work more closely on under the EBP for the benefit of our companies.

Apart from our connectivity to the region, Singapore is open to global talent and offers a business-friendly and conducive living environment. All these qualities allow Singapore to serve as the control tower for companies to manage their businesses in Asia. Among the many British companies based in Singapore are well-established companies like Rolls Royce, the Shell Group, Dyson, GSK and Unilever who have had successful long term partnerships with Singapore. I encourage more British companies to continue to use Singapore as a base to expand their footprint in Asia.

As you know, the EU and Singapore are also negotiating the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.When concluded, we can expect a comprehensive and high-quality FTA which will further strengthen the links between the two regions and promote greater bilateral trade and investment flows. This will complement Singapore’s FTA network with the region to better enable British companies based here to optimise their supply chain and plug into the ASEAN and greater Asia market. Conversely, it will be useful for Singapore-based companies to learn more about how to tap the UK as the gateway to Europe.

Conclusion

In closing, I am confident that the bilateral economic relations between Singapore and the UK will grow from strength to strength with the launch of the EBP. As this partnership takes off, we welcome ideas from the businesses to make the EBP more relevant to your needs.In this respect, I would like to thank the British Chamber for organising this event and the Singapore Business Federation for supporting it. Such business gatherings as well as focussed business roundtables are important channels for business communities to network, exchange views and provide feedback to the governments to continue improving our business environment.

On this note, I wish you all an enjoyable lunch. Thank you.

[1]Source: UK Trade and Investment.