Govt will play active facilitator role in efforts to grow external wing: SM Goh
SINGAPORE: The government will facilitate Singapore's growth of an external wing, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in his address at the Business China Spring reception on Tuesday.
With Singapore nearing its constraints of land and labour, Mr Goh
said the government must increase the country's Gross National Product
(GNP) and he urged companies in the frontline to lead the way.
Singapore recognised China's potential soon after China began opening up its economy in 1978.
And because of these early efforts, China is today Singapore's third largest trading partner and top investment destination.
Looking ahead, SM Goh said Singapore must find opportunities to ride on China's growth.
He said: "When Goldman Sachs predicted back in 2003 that China's
GDP would overtake that of the US in 2041, it was met with some
scepticism. But no longer.
“In fact, the dislocation brought about by the recent global financial
tsunami had accelerated time. Goldman Sachs now believes that China
will become the world's largest economy by 2027, 14 years sooner than
earlier predicted.
“In a research report put out last month, PWC went even further,
believing that China would overtake the US as early as 2020, a mere
decade from now. Of course, this is in terms of the size of GDP. In GDP
per capita terms, China will take much longer to catch up with the US."
So, IE Singapore will continue to organise business missions to international trade fairs, and engage emerging regions.
In order to help local companies gain an even stronger foothold in
China, Singapore has also concluded a Free Trade Agreement with China,
the first Asian country to do so. This came into force in January last
year.
And Mr Goh explained there is more to it when engaging China.
He explained: "To do business in China, Singaporeans need to
understand nuances of Chinese business culture. Being able to speak the
same language is critical in networking and developing rapport.
“The Ministry of Education is therefore looking at how to make Chinese
lessons in our schools even more engaging. Those students with the
interest and aptitude are being encouraged to pursue Higher Chinese at
Primary and Secondary levels. In fact, more than a quarter of Chinese
Language students are currently studying Higher Chinese at 'O'-Levels."
Meanwhile, Business China has also launched the Young Leaders Programme.
Genie Quek Jing Yi, Business China Young Leaders Programme, said:
"You have to be independent, flexible, open-minded and you must be
hardworking and be able to adapt to their culture and Chinese and their
working environment."
Steven Goh Zhixiang, Business China Young Leaders Programme, said:
"I see it as a platform for me to know China better and in a way for
the Chinese to know Singapore better."
The programme aims to grow a pool of young enthusiastic Singaporeans for careers in China.
Through it, they gain valuable work, live and play experience in China.
Corporate members of the programme can select suitable trainees to be attached to their China offices.
They receive attractive funding and can also recruit the trainees
after the attachment period to strengthen the China-readiness of their
workforce.
Among the companies offering attachment vacancies are AnnAik
Limited, BreadTalk Group, CapitaLand, EnGro Corporation, Hi-P
International, Keppel Land International, ST Engineering and Yanlord
Land Group.
Mr Goh said the programme complements efforts of the public sector
in cultivating more bilingual and bicultural talents to spread
Singapore's wings in China.
- CNA/vm