Speech by FS at Singapore National Day Dinner
Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the Singapore National Day Dinner today (August 28):
Ambassador Eric Teo (Consul General of the Republic of Singapore in Hong Kong), Deputy Commissioner Hua You (Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), members of the diplomatic community in Hong Kong, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening. It is a pleasure to join you tonight in celebration of Singapore's 61st National Day.
This is a proud occasion, and a welcome opportunity to pay tribute to the remarkable progress the Lion City has made over more than six decades.
Singapore is a nation of foresight. That quality is in your DNA, and perhaps best expressed in the words of the late Lee Kuan Yew, and I quote: "We are always preparing, thinking, preparing and moving one step ahead… Nothing comes without planning and hard work."
Hong Kong and Singapore have long enjoyed close ties. We are both open economies that live by finance and trade. Both of us have overcome no small number of challenges along the way. The success of our two cities has always turned on the same qualities: resilience, agility and the ability to respond rapidly to change.
Whenever Singapore and Hong Kong are spoken of together, it is tempting to reach for the language of rivalry - a tale of two endlessly competing cities. It is true that we watch each other closely, and learn from each other constantly. Yes, we sharpen each other. The Consul General has just given an excellent account of the many levels of our exchanges.
Yet if we look ahead - to the geopolitical landscape, and to the direction in which the global economy is moving - the answer is clear. We should compete where we must, and co-operate where it matters most. Some describe this as "co-opetition". Whatever the term, it is in this spirit that our two cities will each realise our full potential, and that our partnership will contribute most to the region.
The foundations of our relationship are solid. Singapore's stock of investment in Hong Kong stands at HK$310 billion, and more than 28 000 Singaporeans call Hong Kong home. The fact that the Singapore International School here is the only overseas school supported by your Ministry of Education speaks volumes about the depth of that presence. Last year, 590 Singaporean companies had operations in Hong Kong, 14 per cent more than the year before, and many are expanding.
Two of your major financial institutions, for instance, have together committed some HK$4 billion to acquiring their offices in Hong Kong as their operations here grow. Not leasing, but buying. These are clear votes of confidence.
Hong Kong's investment in Singapore is on a similar scale, at around HK$340 billion. At the end of last year, the venture fund of our Science and Technology Parks Corporation made a strategic investment in a Singaporean technology company to support its global expansion. Over the past few years, our senior officials have also led technology enterprises to Singapore on various occasions for business matching.
We also face a common set of new challenges, technological change and artificial intelligence in particular. The arrival of agentic AI has sharpened concerns. That said, we are both moving quickly to find more efficient ways of doing business, so as to raise productivity and remain competitive. We are also both alert to what technological change means for the labour market. How best to manage disruptions is a question we share.
Whatever the challenge, and wherever the opportunity, the logic is this: regional synergy is the best way to drive growth and development in every economy within it. Technological change has opened up ample room in the market, enough for all of us - and our task is to seize that moment and make the pie bigger.
Asia offers advantages and potential that cannot be replicated elsewhere. The Chinese Mainland has a vast domestic market, complete industrial and technology chains, and real strengths in high-end manufacturing. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is booming, with its young population, a rising middle class and fast-growing digital economy. China-ASEAN trade has now passed US$1 trillion, and the region is integrating more closely every year. This creates fresh demand for regional finance and for high value-added services. That's where the growth lies.
Here in Hong Kong, we are pressing ahead with the Northern Metropolis as our new economic engine. Together with the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area, this will be a place where innovators, advanced manufacturing, world-class universities, top talent and capital all come together.
And the Northern Metropolis is not a closed loop. It is open to the region, open to the world. Our goal is to make it a key node of regional synergy - connecting the Greater Bay Area with partners across Asia and beyond. When Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was here in March, he made a point of seeing the Northern Metropolis for himself. Singaporean investors and entrepreneurs are very welcome.
What's more, as two of the most international advanced economies in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore can - and should - work hand in hand to strengthen the region's voice and influence in the global arena.
Standard-setting is a good example, and that includes taxonomies for green and transition finance, governance frameworks for AI, rules for cross-border data flows, and much more. On all of these, if we can align our positions and make the case together, we will help lower the cost of doing business across the region, and lift its competitiveness as a whole.
Meanwhile, ASEAN members and other emerging economies are at very different stages of development, but all are seeking capital, skills and institutional experience. Hong Kong and Singapore have a great deal to offer them: infrastructure financing, financial services, talent development and our own experience in formulating rules and building institutions. This is not altruism. It is an investment in the stability and prosperity on which we all depend.
Taken together, the picture is clear. Our future lies in supporting the region's continuing growth, whether through finance, trade, green transition or technological collaboration. That is how we will open broader and more inclusive opportunities. For both of us. For all of us.
Ladies and gentlemen, none of this will happen of its own accord. It will require sustained effort at every level - from our governments, our businesses and our people. Given the goodwill in this room, I have no doubt that we will continue to work together, and go from strength to strength, in Asia and beyond.
My heartiest congratulations to you all on Singapore's National Day. May our friendship - and friendly competition - continue to flourish in the years ahead.
Thank you very much.
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, attended the Singapore National Day Dinner today (August 28). Photo shows (from left) Mr Chan; the Consul General of the Republic of Singapore in Hong Kong, Mr Eric Teo; and Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr Hua You giving a toast at the dinner. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, speaks at the Singapore National Day Dinner today (August 28). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
