S'pore, China in midst of picking site for joint Eco-city project
By Channel NewsAsia's Ca-Mie De Souza in Dalian | Posted: 06 September 2007 1902 hrs

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DALIAN, CHINA: Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong says his country is considering the four Chinese cities picked for the Eco-city project.

But it is not ruling out other good possibilities.

In his discussions with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, the two leaders agreed that they must pick the right site.

"The point which Premier Wen and I agreed upon is we must choose the right site for this. This is a very high-profile development. We want to make sure that the project will succeed. So, having the right site is very important and my own advice is take our own time," said Mr Goh.

Senior Minister Goh and Premier Wen agreed the choice city must be sustainable, commercially viable and replicable - a model for other cities in China.

The two leaders agreed back in April that they would take up the project to jointly develop an environmentally-friendly and resource-conserving Eco-city.

Now some five months down the road, Singapore's National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is leading a team to explore the candidate cities.

The Eco-city will be yet another iconic project, coming 13 years after the Suzhou Industrial Park.

One of the candidate cities for the Eco-city project is Tianjin and its Mayor, Dai Xianglong, took time to meet the Senior Minister.

According to Mr Goh's Press Secretary, Mayor Dai said he is prepared to offer suitable sites in his municipality for the project.

Wrapping up his visit to Dalian, Mr Goh also told the media about his 'good' first meeting with Liaoning Party Secretary Li Keqiang, whom he described as a very able man.

"I found Mr Li a young, bright and energetic man with a clear vision of what should be done for Liaoning Province, for Dalian and for Changxing Dao," said Mr Goh.

Singapore did the master-planning for part of Changxing Dao, an island near Dalian and about one-third the size of Singapore.

Now the Senior Minister wants to interest the Arabs to invest in Changxing Island.

Mr Goh strongly believes China is going to emphasise the development of its northeast and will put resources to ensure its success.

So Singapore should seize the first-mover advantage. "Let's get on early on the ground floor and move up with the escalator," he said. - CNA/ir