LYE LIANG FOOK: SINGAPORE IS AN ACTIVE SUPPORTER OF THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE

An important member state of ASEAN and a major financial, trade, service and shipping hub of Southeast Asia, Singapore is playing a pivotal role in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Singapore Ambassador to China Stanley Loh noted in November 2018 that about a quarter of China's investment in countries along the Belt and Road flows into Singapore's financial market first while Singapore's investment in China accounts for 80 percent of the total investments from countries along the route in China.

With the development of China-Singapore relations, the two countries have made concrete achievements in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2015, the China-Singapore(Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity(CCI) was announced as the third government-to-government cooperation project between the two countries after China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park and China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city. Implementation of the CCI not only facilitates China's connection to ASEAN nations with shipping time greatly reduced, but also creates new opportunities for industrial cooperation between the two sides.

Lye Liang Fook, senior fellow and co-coordinator of the Vietnam Studies Program at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, shared his views on China-Singapore cooperation and the advantages and challenges of the Belt and Road Initiative in an interview with Xue Li, senior fellow with the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Q: What are the advantages of the Belt and Road Initiative? And what problems need to be solved during the implementation of the Initiative?

Lye: The greatest advantage is that for the neighboring regions and ASEAN countries, the Initiative provides broad scope for cooperation in realms such as infrastructure including not only roads, railways and aviation connectivity,but ICT (Information Communications Technology) and energy provision as well. These are areas where ASEAN countries require a substantial commitment. Socio-cultural exchange is also encouraged, which includes the flow of Chinese and ASEAN tourists, exchange of international students and similar sectors. Therefore, this Initiative can promote economic development and people-to-people exchanges among countries in the region while strengthening mutual trust and cooperation among several countries.

The biggest drawback is that some problems have emerged in the process of implementing the Initiative.When implementing projects in ASEAN countries,there is need to pay more attention to the concerns of locals, ensure more benefits are apparent to the local community and protect the environment better. We need to devote more attention to the process and details of implementation. By doing so,projects can be carried out with fewer hiccups and have a stronger demonstrative effect over time.

Q: How is the Belt and Road Initiative going in Singapore?

Lye: Cooperation between Singapore and China had already begun in the early 1990s with the Suzhou Industrial Park as the first government-to-government collaborative project when Jiang Zemin was president of China, and Tianjin Eco-city launched in 2007 during Hu Jintao's presidency as the second of such project. Since President Xi Jinping took office, modern connectivity and services have emerged as a new area of cooperation between China(Chongqing) and Singapore. This project, the CCI, is in line with China's overland Silk Road Economic Belt, the Western Development Strategy and the strategy for the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and reflects the vision of mutually beneficial cooperation.

The project was officially launched during President Xi Jinping's state visit to Singapore in 2015. In 2017, Singapore proposed the establishment of the Southern Transport Corridor (STC), whereby goods would be shipped from Chongqing through Guizhou Province and Qinzhou Port in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. It is already taking much less time than the traditional route in which goods left Chongqing via the Yangtze River to Shanghai and then onward to Singapore.

Now it takes only 48 hours for goods to reach Qinzhou,Guangxi, on a Chongqing departure train, and then they reach Singapore by sea. The total travel time is roughly seven days. This is about 14 days shorter than the route from Chongqing to Shanghai via the Yangtze River.

As a small state and with a comparatively well-developed infrastructure, Singapore does not require infrastructure investment from China. So, the nature of Singapore's collaboration with China on the Belt and Road Initiative is considerably different than other Southeast Asian countries.As exemplified by the CCI and reinforced by the STC (now known as New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor),Singapore's collaboration with China primarily occurs on Chinese soil. Other countries are largely recipients of the Belt and Road projects.

The CCI is coordinated by several departments, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore playing a lead role. The Singapore cochair is Minister Chan Chun Sing who is a key member of Singapore's fourth generation leadership. Both China and Singapore attach great importance to this project. There is a high-level bilateral cooperation mechanism connecting the two sides in the form of the Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) with Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Teo Chee Hean and Vice Premier of China Han Zheng as representatives.

Q: What is the most famous project under the Belt and Road Initiative in Singapore?

Lye: As I mentioned, one of the highest profile projects between China and Singapore directly linked to the Belt and Road Initiative is the CCI of which the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor is an integral piece. Of course, the two countries have cooperated in other areas of growing importance such as finance and financial services, which leverage Singapore's hub status.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce of China, nearly 30 percent of China's investment outflow in countries along the Belt and Road goes through Singapore. Singapore is also an important destination for the provision of various professional services such as legal and consultancy services. It is also in a good position to provide critical human resource training for the capacity development of its neighbors.

Moreover, China and Singapore have reached an agreement on commercial disputes related to Belt and Road projects being resolved through arbitration facilities and services in either Singapore or China. Singapore has a reputable legal system in which businesses can seek legal recourse for resolution of commercial disputes. As a member of ASEAN with a strategic location and considerable competitive advantages, it makes good sense for China to collaborate with Singapore in these areas.

Singapore Ambassador to China Stanley Loh noted in November 2018 that about a quarter of China's investment in countries along the Belt and Road flows into Singapore's financial market first while Singapore's investment in China accounts for 80 percent of the total investments from countries along the route in China.

Now it takes only 48 hours for goods to reach Qinzhou, Guangxi, on a Chongqing departure train,and then they reach Singapore by sea. The total travel time is roughly seven days. This is about 14 days shorter than the route from Chongqing to Shanghai via the Yangtze River.

Q: How does Singapore feel about the Belt and Road projects?

Lye: Singapore should be regarded as a practical and active supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative. As China goes global through its Belt and Road Initiative, Singapore as a small country has seized opportunities that come their way and sought means to strengthen bilateral cooperation with China as it has done with other countries.

This principle of staying relevant to China is a primary driver of the CCI,which can help Singapore enterprises including small and medium-sized companies better capitalize on China's development and seek more growth opportunities.

Q: Do you think there has been change in China's foreign policy and foreign investment model since the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative?

Lye: In terms of the investment model, the Belt and Road Initiative encourages Chinese enterprises to go global and Chinese investment in ASEAN countries can be expected to increase further. Some countries see China's earlier investments in Southeast Asia as only for natural resource extraction (such as for precious metals, minerals or timber)which do not add much value to the local economy and community.

After the initiative was proposed,some observers saw it as a new round of Chinese outbound investment and expressed hope that Chinese enterprises would contribute more to local economic development by setting up more factories and providing better employment opportunities this time around.

In terms of foreign policy, it seems that China's attitude towards its neighbors has remained positive in the sense that China has continued to stress the importance of mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation.However, it is very important to reinforce this attitude through actual implementation of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. At the end of the day, the initiative is not one that merely involves governments but also falls on the shoulders of other stakeholders. It is important for them to claim ownership of the process, and they are more likely to do so if they are involved from the start.

Q: What needs to be improved?

Lye: As a concept, an initiative aiming to build infrastructure and other forms of connectivity ought to be welcomed, but the pace of development seems rapid and some implementation details have been neglected. It is necessary to balance various interests when carrying out a project such as local government institutions and other interest groups,not to mention the concerns of affected residents.

For example, the CCI proceeded relatively smoothly because both governments recognized its strategic importance and perhaps more importantly, the companies involved also found viable opportunities over time. If this project becomes bigger and better, it could be a demonstrative project under the Belt and Road Initiative.