Belt and Road Initiative 5 years on: Vigorous progress underway
- By Zhang Jiaqi
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 25, 2018
As the guest of honor of the expo, Singapore in Southeast Asia sent a delegation of over 40 companies to Chongqing, the largest ever delegation to China led by the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), according to Tan Kiat How, CEO of IMDA, at a press release event held on Aug. 22.
At the event, Singaporean and Chongqing companies signed a number of memorandums of understanding, covering products and services supported by blockchain, cloud technology and intelligent logistics.
"This is another firm step for the cooperation between the two sides," Tan said, adding that the expo is another excellent chance for Chinese and Singaporean companies, and even the whole South Asia, to reshape the ecosystem of information and communication technology.
China is now the largest e-commerce market in the world with over 40 percent of global transaction volume in this field, and one of the dominant forces across the world in the digital economy. Meanwhile, Singapore is a global center for scientific and technological innovation.
Citing these statistics, Tan highlighted that "companies across the world can see that Singapore and Chongqing have lots of room for cooperation, and Singaporean companies can draw on precious experience from companies in China and the world."
Tan also expressed his expectations for enhancing partnership between Singaporean companies and Chinese ones at the event to further carry forward the third interconnectivity project between Chinese and Singaporean governments.
The project was officially announced during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Singapore in November 2015.
On Jan. 8, 2016, China's southwestern city of Chongqing became the operation center of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity to pilot cooperation in fields ranging from financial services, aviation, transportation and logistics to information communications technology.
According to Li Qian, deputy secretary general of the Chongqing municipal government, over the past three years, the two sides have made various explorations in these four areas, and expanded their cooperation under this project into other fields like education and tourism.
Now, years later, the two sides have signed 118 cooperative projects involving a total of US$21.4 billion in trade and investment. With the joint efforts of the two sides, nearly 60 innovative policies have been implemented so far, he added.
