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20 November 2002
Speech By Mr Raymond Lim, Minister Of State (Foreign Affairs And Trade & Industry) At The Opening Of Singapore Representative Office Of Zhongshan Torch Hi-Tech Development Zone And Launch Of Zhongshan Asean+1 Showcase On Wed 20 Nov 2002 At 3.15 PM At JTC
Mr Chong Ke Ren, President, Asean+1 Showcase
Mr Cheng Wu Xian, GM of Zhongshan Torch Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone Industry Development General Company,
His Excellency Ambassador Kem Mongkol, Royal Embassy of Cambodia
His Excellency Ambassador Ernesto V' Llamas, Embassy of the Republic of The Philippines
His Excellency Ambassador Mr Do Cong Minh, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good afternoon
- In May this year, together with Madam Deng Nan, Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Science and Technology, I had the pleasure to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding to set up in Singapore the China Innovation Centre for High Technology Enterprises. This will be China's first such centre overseas, for the internationalization of China's hi-tech enterprises. We were honoured to have been picked to be the host to the first base forward in the globalization of China's startup sector.
- I am therefore delighted to be here to witness the establishment of a Representative Office by the Zhongshan Torch Hi-Tech Development Zone. The Zhongshan Zone is one of the 53 hi-tech development zones under the purview of the China Torch Centre. Zhongshan's effort is the first among the 53 development zones to set up an operations here to help its technology enterprises innovate and internationalise.
- Zhongshan's intention to set up a business incubation and acceleration centre here in the near future is also welcomed. This centre can help Zhongshan enterprises leverage on Singapore's conducive environment to innovate for the global market and internationalise.
- Currently, there are already 51 business incubation and acceleration centres in Singapore - of which 10 are set up by foreign entities. Earlier this month, the Mie Prefectural Government of Japan launched its Mie Innovation Centre. Just last week, the Western Sydney IT Cluster, supported by the Western Sydney office of the New South Wales Government, signed a letter of intent to set up the Western Sydney IT @ Zone Asia centre in Singapore.
- This is a new facet of the increasingly cosmopolitan and globalised character of Singapore. It is indeed heartening to see the physical realization of our vision to develop this new sector of Singapore's economy. This is exactly what we mean when we speak of the role of Singapore as a global launchpad for regional companies and startups to expand their operations from here.
- The Singapore ecosystem is linked to other ecosystems and the strands of connectivity are being expanded and strengthened all the time. This we are doing in many ways, including enhancing our high level of interconnectivity to global and regional markets. The Free Trade Agreements that Singapore has signed and concluded will enhance such connections further. As you know, many more FTAs are on the negotiation table. All these extended networks and new channels of market access will be open to all enterprises based in Singapore. The spin-off benefits are also being extended to our ASEAN friends, starting with Indonesia as the prototype for the US-Singapore FTA which we expect to settle very soon. The relationship that the Zhongshan City establishes with us will provide another avenue for Zhongshan enterprises and businesses to connect to our ecosystem and, through our FTA network, to other ecosystems around the world.
- The synergy and symbiosis underlying the enterprise ecosystem really operates in a two-way fashion. In conjunction with this rep office opening, the Zhongshan City has also planned to work with a Singapore company to help enterprises from the region, especially those based in the Asean region, to develop their markets in China, through Zhongshan. This opportunity to use Singapore as a launchpad into the growing China market is another option for the 6,000 multinational companies and thousands of smaller enterprises already based in Singapore. Our ASEAN partners can also leverage on this channel. Just as Zhongshan enterprises are drawn here to network with the companies here, they too can establish new links into the China market.
- I extend my congratulations on the setting up of the Zhongshan Torch Development Zone rep office here and the Zhongzhan Asean+1 Showcase, and wish you every success in your business ventures and partnerships in the future.
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