Changes in China-Singapore co-op shows progress

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-13 13:31

SINGAPORE -- The changes in the mode of cooperation between Singapore and China indicates China's changing mindset on development and both countries have benefited a lot from their bilateral cooperation, a Singaporean lawmaker with rich China experiences has said.

Singapore and China will work together on an eco-friendly industrial and services development zone in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin following their successful cooperation on the Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu province that began 14 years ago.

"Two joint icon projects, (and) two models of cooperation between our two countries witness the strengthened bilateral ties and also show China's evolution during its three-decade reform and opening-up," Chan Soo Sen, a Singaporean parliamentarian and a pioneer in joint projects said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Fourteen years ago, we should say, China learnt more from Singapore than Singapore did in terms of experiences on modern corporate management and social-economic development," he added.

But today, Singapore learns just as much from China, said Chan, who served as the first chief executive officer of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd. from 1994 to 1996. "The ratio is 50 to 50 now," he said.

China now has a new concept of development that focuses on environmental protection and sustainable development, he noted.

Some local governments' practice of pursuing economic growth at the cost of ecological deterioration was halted, Chan said, calling it a very significant change in China's mindset on economic development.

Chan said China's reform and opening-up have benefited Singapore, attracting more and more Singapore companies to invest in China.

Noting that Singapore also feels the competition from a rising China, he said China's development has pushed Singapore to readjust its industrial structure and mode of growth in recent years.

Singapore has boosted its exchanges with China and extended its participation in China's economic development for mutual benefit, said the parliamentarian.

"Our strategy is to grow with China, grow with Asia," he said.

Chan said the development of the Tianjin project highlights the joint efforts by the two countries to tackle climate change and achieve sustainable growth.

Singapore has rich experience in the use of solar and wind power and waste water treatment and desalination, and enjoys "a unique advantage" in management software, he said.

"So sharing our two countries' hardware and software during the construction of the eco-city will lead to another win-win situation," said Chan, who is now the director of the chairman's office of Keppel Corporation, the flagship developer of the Tianjin project.

"I just want to try my best to push forward the cooperation between our two countries," he said.