S'pore, Shenzhen can work together as gateways to their regions: DPM Gan

Singapore and Shenzhen are gateways that can work together to spur investment between South-east Asia and China's Greater Bay Area, with companies from the Republic keen to continue investing in the southern tech hub and in Greater China, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

- Joyce ZK Lim

SHENZHEN -

He invited Shenzhen's firms to look at opportunities in Singapore and its immediate neighbourhood, highlighting the Sijori Growth Triangle that encompasses Singapore, Johor in Malaysia and the Riau Islands in Indonesia.

DPM Gan was in Shenzhen in Guangdong province on the second leg of his working visit to China, and was speaking at a meeting with the city's Party Secretary Meng Fanli.

Shenzhen is one of China's economic growth engines, is home to an array of tech giants such as Huawei, Tencent and BYD, and has a youthful population of about 18 million. Its gross domestic product of 3.68 trillion yuan (S$664 billion) is the third largest of China's cities, trailing Shanghai and Beijing.

The leaders discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the two cities, with DPM Gan pointing to the digital economy, green economy, supply chains, healthcare services and biotech development as areas that Singapore was interested in.

Singapore and Shenzhen have collaborated on the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative since 2019.

The initiative aims to boost digital connectivity, promote innovation, and create opportunities for companies on both sides to tap markets in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and South-east Asia.

Mr Meng said he hoped to build on this foundation to expand cooperation into fields such as artificial intelligence and the digital economy.