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DALIAN, CHINA: Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has said Singapore and China are not just old friends but also close partners.
He was speaking at the launch of Dalian Ascendas IT Park, calling it another major hallmark of bilateral cooperation.
An IT park where its users can work, live and play, the US$200 million project will be the biggest of its kind in China.
Boasting a seafront view on a hilltop, the park is also the first international business lifestyle project in China offering a work-live-play environment.
The 11-storey phase one building was built at a cost of US$62 million and is a joint venture between Ascendas and Dalian Software Park.
SM Goh noted that the joint venture was a conscious effort by Singapore to support China in its development, and one poised to tap into the next phase of Dalian's growth as a software hub.
Ascendas says it has brought in the best of what it had implemented in Singapore and in its Bangalore IT Park to this Greenfield project.
"As China develops and changes, it will need new core competencies. Singapore will be happy to continue to partner China in the next phase of China's development. In this new phase, Singapore will not just be sharing its experience with China. We will at the same time learn from China and benefit from China's growth," Mr Goh said.
25 percent of available office space under the US$62 million phase one development has already been taken up by Japanese Konika Minolta, US-based software and data management solutions provider Network Appliance and local software company Dalian Hi-Think Computer Technology.
And its developers - Ascendas and Dalian Software Park - are hoping to attract more Japanese and Indian IT-related companies.
"We again would like to act as a bridge between India and China and help facilitate the flow of Indian companies into China," said president and CEO of Ascendas, Chong Siak Ching.
Ms Chong also said that out of the 11 cities China has designated as business process outsourcing hubs, Ascendas has yet to make inroads to three of them - Chengdu, Wuhan and Jinan.
"We will be actively looking at how to increase our presence and expand the facilities that we have there," she said.
Senior Minister Goh also said that the Dalian Ascendas IT Park project is another example of how China and Singapore can work together for mutual benefits.
In fact, Liaoning Party Secretary Li Keqiang told Mr Goh during their meeting that Singapore's investments in Liaoning increased 80% last year.
Mr Goh also said that through his recent years spent building bridges between the Middle East and Asia, he knows that Middle East investors are interested in China.
Mr Goh offered to promote opportunities in China to the Middle East when he visits the region next year.
Mr Li expressed confidence that the Senior Minister will be a bridge to build mutual trust between Middle East and China.
Both leaders agreed that going by China's current state of development, it is now time for the northeastern part of China to prosper.
Mr Li is dubbed to be one of the high-profile young leaders groomed for top Chinese leadership. - CNA/ir
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