PREVENTION OF HEAT BUILD-UP IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how can Singaporeans embrace the Prime Minister's and Senior Minister's visions on the need to focus on booming China in the context of engaging and doing business in China; and (b) as the window of opportunity can run out fast, what programmes or plans are there to realise these visions and help derive the maximum advantage for Singapore.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: In July last year and, more recently, during the Committee of Supply debate on MTI's budget, I have outlined our China policy and what our economic agencies have been doing to help Singapore do business in China. I will provide an update today.

Singapore companies have invested in close to 10,000 projects in China, amounting to US$20 billion to date. China has now become Singapore's largest overseas investment destination, overtaking Malaysia since 1997 in cumulative terms. Our businessmen have been positioning themselves to take advantage of the many opportunities in China.

Some of them have done well in China. For example, Khong Guan sold 300 million yuan (S$67 million) worth of its products in China last year. Education services provider TMC has attracted 1,000 full-time students in its Xi'an campus alone, thanks to its modern facilities and high quality courses. Smart Garments has grown from 280 workers in 1985 to 2,600 workers in its 3 Chinese factories today, producing 1.75 million suits a year.

Besides investing in China, our companies have also begun to partner with Chinese companies that are now seeking to internationalise, in exploring other markets. For example, one of our local companies has successfully partnered Zhejiang-based Feiyue Sewing Machine Group to enter the India market.

Programmes and Plans

We are steadily building up our China network. It is impossible to do business in China without good networking. Last month, we launched the Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Beijing (SingCham). This, together with Network China that was launched in Singapore a year ago by DPM Lee Hsien Loong and Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Li Ruihuan, will provide a useful platform for companies operating in China to network, interact and share experiences and business ideas. SingCham and Network China provide a support base for Singapore companies operating in China.

When PRC Vice President Hu Jintao visited Singapore in April, he raised a 4-Point Proposal with PM, to cooperate with Singapore in (i) helping Chinese enterprises to go global, (ii) high-tech areas, (iii) development of Western China and (iv) human resource development.

Since April, we have been working on these 4 proposals with the Chinese Government. EDB recently set up a new office in Shanghai to attract Chinese companies to Singapore. China's Ministry of Science and Technology has announced its plans to set up an innovation centre for China's high-tech enterprises in Singapore. During my recent visit to China, the Zhejiang provincial and city governments reacted positively to our proposal for the establishment of a Zhejiang Centre in Singapore, as a facility for Zhejiang companies to market, showcase and provide after-sales service for their products in the region. In Brunei recently, I also discussed the idea of a China Centre with Chinese Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng to help Chinese companies use Singapore as a base to regionalise and internationalise.

We have relaxed our visa policies to facilitate the flow of Chinese tourists into Singapore, and PRC business travellers can now obtain multiple-journey visas for up to 5 years. We are also interested to participate in the development of Western China. Minister Mah Bow Tan visited Sichuan in May this year, and IE Singapore organised 2 business missions to Western China last year focusing on education and ICT. We are discussing with our Chinese counterparts on ways to operationalise VP Hu Jintao's proposals.

Separately, ASEAN is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with China within 10 years, and a Framework Agreement incorporating an Early Harvest is expected to be signed when the Leaders meet in November in Phnom Penh.

The private sector is the prime mover in seeking out business opportunities in China. The Government will play a supportive role. One area that the Government can help is in manpower training. Since I announced the Asian Business Fellowship Programme a year ago, more than 50 fresh graduates and young executives have been sent on training attachments with companies in various parts of China under the Programme. We expect the number of trainees to reach 100 by the end of this year. Recently, IE Singapore launched its Overseas Manpower Program to equip executives with overseas experience in China and elsewhere. Through such initiatives, we hope to make available a pool of Singaporeans with deep business knowledge of China.

As Mdm Ho suggested, the window of opportunity for our engagement with China will not be as open in the future. Our companies can and should leverage on our good relations with China and our reputation for honesty and reliability. But we have to keep upgrading our capabilities, so that we do not lose our relevance. At the same time, we must be aware of the pitfalls. Not all our companies have done well in China and we should also learn from their experiences.

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the measures taken by the planning and building authorities to prevent the build up of heat in our built environment; and (b) what are the energy conservation measures taken to encourage sustainable development in Singapore.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: In the planning of the physical development of Singapore, the Government has always emphasised comprehensive and integrated efforts to provide shade and greenery to our urban built environment. Our Garden City initiative has succeeded in providing a pervasive garden environment for Singapore. Our roadside trees, the planned parks and green spaces provide the necessary green lungs and aesthetics as well as work towards ameliorating the heat build up in our environment.

BCA, NParks, HDB and NUS are jointly studying the causes and impact of heat build up in our environment. So far, the study has shown that rooftop gardens can almost halve the temperatures of the roof surfaces of highrise buildings, resulting in less heat radiated to the surrounding areas. NParks is therefore promoting rooftop gardens to owners and developers through public education and awareness programmes. To encourage skyrise greenery, URA allows for certain GFA exemption for the provision of sky terrace. URA also allows developers to provide balcony floor area up to 10% above the GFA allowable under the Master Plan in the design of residential, mixed residential and hotel developments.

To enhance the energy efficiency of buildings in Singapore, BCA has set more stringent standards to reduce the energy consumption of building services. These are in areas such as the design of air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation systems and the minimum efficiency of equipment and lighting systems in buildings. BCA also intends to set a stricter compliance value of the heat gain into a building which is to be incorporated into building designs. This will lessen the load on the air-conditioning system in new buildings and therefore help reduce the electricity consumption. In addition, BCA has started the Building Energy Efficiency Indices (EEI) as a guide to the industry for the amount of energy consumed by the various building types. It is also conducting research on the use of solar energy in our local context.