Belt and Road Initiative main focus of Singapore-China's further development: Singaporean ambassador

The Belt and Road Initiative brings about new opportunities for China as well as its neighboring countries, and it is the main focus of Singapore-China's further development, said Singaporean Ambassador to China Stanley Loh Ka Leung during a recent interview with Xinhuanet.

   

The ambassador stressed that the Belt and Road Initiative offers opportunities not only for China's economy and enterprises, but also for the neighboring countries and regional economies.

"It is a win-win initiative, and all the countries can share its fruits," he added.

According to Loh, Singapore is one of the earliest countries which supports and gets into the swing of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The ambassador said Singapore's investment in China [in 2016] accounted for about 85 percent of the total investment China has attracted from the countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and China's investment in Singapore amounted to nearly 30 percent of China's total investment in the countries and regions along the Belt and Road, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce.

"We are launching four platforms to support the development of the Belt and Road", he said.

The four platforms cover fields of finance, facilities, trilateral cooperation and legal services.

The ambassador stressed that many cooperative projects, in line with the Belt and Road Initiative, are making steady progress.

He highlighted some of the major cooperative projects, including the Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-city and Chongqing connectivity project.

Speaking highly of China's current innovative capability, the ambassador also expressed Singapore's expectation of cooperating with Chinese innovative enterprises.

As the chairman of ASEAN this year, Singapore can provide a platform for Chinese innovative enterprises to promote their products and services into ASEAN countries, said the ambassador.

During the interview, the ambassador noted that Singapore is looking forward to developing an open world economy with China.

The ambassador said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) is under negotiation, hoping a consensus can be reached at an early date, so that the Asia-Pacific free trade agreement can be signed.