Hong Kong and Singapore have signed seven agreements on improving cooperation and trade during Chief Executive John Lee’s visit to the city-state.
The memoranda of understanding (MoU), signed at a business dinner in Singapore on Monday evening, cover trade, financial services, fintech, innovation and technology, and research collaboration.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who last met Hong Kong’s leader at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok last November, said he was glad to “strengthen bilateral cooperation” between the two Asian finance hubs.
“Our cities face similar challenges as global hubs in our respective regions. We can learn from and work with each other in many ways, including through civil service exchanges,” Singapore’s Lee said in a statement on social media.
Singapore, which took third place in last year’s Global Financial Centres Index, just ahead of Hong Kong, has been seen as a regional rival to the city for decades. Those comparisons became particularly prominent during the pandemic, when the former chose to reopen to the world while the latter stuck to a zero-Covid policy that undermined Hong Kong’s economy.
Trade and partnership
Speaking at a business dinner with the Singaporean business community on Monday, the chief executive said the Hong Kong delegation aimed to “promote co-operation, as Hong Kong returns to the centre stage of the global arena.”
He touted Hong Kong’s free flow of capital, low tax, and dependable legal system as advantages of its One Country, Two Systems model. “You would find that these attributes bear great resemblance with the value proposition of Singapore,” he added.
John Lee also said Chinese leader Xi Jinping underlined the importance of co-operation during the Singapore leader’s visit to Beijing, adding that Singapore’s merchandise trade made it Hong Kong’s fourth-largest trading partner.
Lee also saw “good potential” for partnership between entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Hong Kong’s start-ups are supported by venture capitalists, incubators and accelerators, he said, adding that Singapore is “well aware of the value of a dynamic start-up and I&T ecosystem.”
“That is why I am excited to note that the two places will be signing a total of seven MoUs this evening, advancing our co-operation in I&T and fintech, as well as trade and finance and other sectors,” the Hong Kong leader said.
He also praised the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) commitment to regional co-operation under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which Hong Kong was “determined” to join.
Hong Kong’s Lee and the Singaporean prime minister “agreed that the two cities faced similar challenges as global cities in their respective regions, and discussed ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation,” a Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement read.
Singapore’s leader also “expressed confidence” in Hong Kong’s development and prosperity under One Country, Two Systems, the statement issued Monday read.
On the second leg of his tour of ASEAN nations, Lee met Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn after arriving in Jakarta on Tuesday evening.
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