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Bright Future for Singapore-China Trade Relations
Mah Bow Tan, minister of national development of Singapore, said Saturday that a bright future is expected for trade relations between Singapore and China.
He said Singapore is expanding its investment in China from the former east coastal area to western region.
Mah made the remarks at a luncheon of the Western Forum of China, which is being held in this capital of Sichuan Province.
He said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Singapore and China. The two countries have conducted fruitful cooperation in the sectors of politics, economy, national defense, culture, health care, sports and science in the past decade, he noted.
He said bilateral trade has increased at an average 12 percent year-on-year in the past 10 years. In the first nine months this year, the trade volume between the two countries was 15.5 billion Singapore dollars (8.835 billion U.S. dollars), up 31.5 percent from last year's same period. China was the 7th biggest trade partner of Singapore in 1999.
He noted that by the end of last year, Singapore had invested 14.5 billion U.S. dollars in China, making Singapore the fifth largest foreign investor in China. In the first six months of this year, Singaporean companies funded 300 projects in China, involving a contracted investment of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, 37 percent more than the figure for last year's same period.
He said Singaporean enterprises are deeply attracted by the investment environment of Sichuan, a big market with a population of more than 80 million, and an important industrial, financial and telecommunications center in southwest China.
Wah held that Sichuan has great commercial opportunities in the infrastructure, tourism, traditional Chinese medicine, science and technology.
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