Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (left) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a joint press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on June 12, 2017. (GREG BAKER / AFP)
SINGAPORE - Singapore stands ready to
partner China to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, Singapore's
Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong
said on Tuesday.
Singapore's Minister for National Development specified three areas of cooperation at the Singapore Regional Business Forum
Wong said at the Singapore Regional Business Forum that Singapore and China have agreed to carry on cooperation in three areas for the building of the Belt and Road - infrastructure connectivity, financing of Belt and Road projects, and cooperation of companies of the two sides for doing projects in third countries.
Singapore's Minister for National Development specified three areas of cooperation at the Singapore Regional Business Forum.He said the infrastructure connectivity is
being operationalized through the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity
Initiative (CCI).
Both sides are now working to jointly develop the CCI
Southern Transport Corridor that will link western China to Southeast Asia
through Chongqing, a municipality in western China and Singapore, and connect
the overland Silk Road Economic Belt with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
The corridor is expected to offer a shorter and more direct trade route
between western China and Southeast Asia, and will lower logistics costs,
enhance cross-border trade flows, and catalyze the economic development of both
regions, in particular the provinces along the corridor, said the minister.
He said Chongqing and Singapore can be the two hubs in Asia, linking up
the Belt and Road, and enlarging the possibilities for connectivity across
western China and Southeast Asia.
Speaking of the financing of Belt and
Road projects, Wong said there are large infrastructure gaps in Asia, and
Singapore, as a major center for the financing of infrastructure projects in
Southeast Asia, can play a role in it.
He said 60 percent of projects
in Southeast Asia enjoy project finance and advisory services from
Singapore-based banks, and Chinese banks in Singapore are also expanding their
presence and doing more to finance Belt and Road projects.
"Beyond
financing, we are home to a full suite of high-quality professional services
that are necessary to bring infrastructure projects into being, including
project advisory, dispute resolution, and legal services," he added.
Wong said Singapore also wants to encourage Singaporean and Chinese companies to
forge partnerships and do projects together in third countries, as well as work
together on human resource development in countries along the Belt and Road.
He said Singaporean companies are natural partners for Chinese
companies in expanding to the region, as Singaporean companies have good market
knowledge of Southeast Asia and can do engineering design and master-planning,
project management, financing, logistics and servicing.
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