MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO CO-CHAIR THE 4th SINO-SINGAPORE TIANJIN ECO-CITY JOINT WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING AND THE 2ND SINGAPORE-TIANJIN ECONOMIC AND TRADE COUNCIL MEETING Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, and Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, will visit the municipality of Tianjin in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2 to 4 June 2009. Minister Mah will co-chair the 4th meeting of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city Joint Working Committee (JWC) with Minister Jiang Weixin of the PRC Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on 3 June 2009.  During the meeting, the JWC will review the progress of the development of the Tianjin Eco-city since the 3rd JWC meeting in July 2008, and discuss the key areas of work for the year ahead. The JWC will also witness Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) signings on projects in the Eco-city, plus the groundbreaking ceremony for the Eco-Business Park in the Eco-city. Following the JWC meeting, Minister Mah will co-chair the 2nd Singapore-Tianjin Economic and Trade Council (STETC) meeting with Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo on 4 June 2009. Minister Mah and Mayor Huang are the Co-Chairmen of STETC, while SMS Fu and Tianjin Vice Mayor Ren Xuefeng are the Vice Chairmen. The meeting will discuss the progress and new areas of economic collaboration between Singapore and Tianjin. During their trip, Minister Mah and SMS Fu will also call on Tianjin Party Secretary Zhang Gaoli. They will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of National Development, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, and other ministries and agencies involved in the Eco-city project. In addition, IE Singapore will organise a business mission alongside this trip, with a delegation comprising 65 representatives from 40 Singapore-based companies. The companies, including SMEs, are from wide ranging sectors such as infrastructure services, environmental services, transport and logistics, education, finance and more. From January – March 2009, bilateral trade between Singapore and Tianjin amounted to US$430 million. In 2008, bilateral trade amounted to US$2.76 billion, of which exports to Tianjin accounted for US$960 million while imports from Tianjin accounted for US$1.84 billion. (Source: Tianjin Commission of Commerce) From January – April 2009, Singapore's actual foreign direct investments (FDI) in Tianjin hit US$420 million with six projects. As of end April 2009, Singapore’s cumulative actual FDI in Tianjin came up to US$2.88 billion with a total of 681 projects. In 2008 itself, Singapore's actual FDI in the municipality reached US$740 million with 30 projects, making us Tianjin’s 6th largest investor.  As of end 2008, Singapore’s cumulative actual FDI in Tianjin amounted to US$2.46 billion with a total of 675 projects. (Source: Tianjin Commission of Commerce) Issued by : Ministry of National Development Date : 2 June 2009 << Back