SINGAPORE AND SHANGHAI (Comparison as a vibrant city)

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how is Singapore compared with Shanghai as a vibrant city with a lot of "buzz" which is good for business, and (b) how do we create and maintain such vibrancy in Singapore.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (BG George Yong-Boon Yeo): Mr Speaker, Sir, I interpret Mrs Yu-Foo's question to be about the competition between Singapore and Shanghai.

If China continues on its path of economic growth, Shanghai will be one of the world's greatest cities in the coming decades. In many ways, it will reclaim its pre-eminent position in Asia, which was its status in the 1930s.

The `buzz' in Shanghai is the result of the sheer concentration of human talent there. Even before Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up of the Chinese economy, Shanghai contributed disproportionately to China's economic, scientific, political, intellectual and cultural life. Once China opened up, Shanghai's natural vitality expressed itself, helped by a very competent municipal leadership.

I believe Mrs Yu-Foo worries whether Shanghai is a competitive threat to Singapore. Well, in some sectors, we compete as we do with other cities. But, overall, no. Shanghai's growth and prosperity will help to raise the entire region.

In Hong Kong, the people there worry a lot about Shanghai because the two cities are geographically not very far apart. And after 1997, there is a feeling among Hong Kongers that Shanghai is the eldest son on whom Beijing will shower the greatest favour. For this reason, Chinese leaders take great pains to assure the people of Hong Kong that they will be looked after.

As for Singapore, we are actually quite far away from Shanghai. It takes almost five hours to fly there which is about the same time it takes to fly from London to Jerusalem or from Washington to Los Angeles. Although China and Southeast Asia compete for FDI, Singapore's relationship with Shanghai is largely cooperative and complementary. For this reason, we have been building up our presence in Shanghai and around Shanghai over the years. One reason why we are at Suzhou is because of its proximity to Shanghai.

How do we increase the `buzz' in Singapore? That really is the objective of the ERC and our other efforts to remake Singapore. The key is our economy. To stay competitive, we must keep taxes low, improve our infrastructure, simplify our regulations, educate our people, train and retrain ourselves continuously, bring in international talent, protect property, including intellectual property, and develop broadband economic connectivity with our Southeast Asian neighbours and with the US, Europe, Japan, China, India and Australia. And that is the reason why we are now embarking on so many FTAs. Being an independent city-state, we will always be more cosmopolitan and outward-looking than any other city in Asia, including Shanghai. This cosmopolitan spirit must also be expressed in our intellectual and cultural life. Our promotion of the arts is an essential part of this.

Shanghai is the economic, intellectual and cultural centre of China. We must ensure that we keep our place as one of the key economic, intellectual and cultural centres in Southeast Asia. Provided we do that, Singapore will be useful to Shanghai, as Shanghai is useful to Singapore.