Hangzhou city 'a prime opportunity'

SINGAPORE companies should set their investment sights on the fast-growing Chinese city of Hangzhou, according to DBS Shanghai's general manager.

Speaking at the Hangzhou Singapore Cooperation Seminar, Mr Ang Moh Chuan said that China's stimulus spending and its focus on domestic, as well as export, markets had boosted Hangzhou's economy.

This, coupled with local citizens' high spending power, made the capital city of Zhejiang province a prime investment opportunity.

Hangzhou Vice-Mayor Tong Guili, attending last Friday's seminar at the St Regis Hotel with 30 other government officials, told those present that Hangzhou had been buoyed by double-digit gross domestic product growth for the last 19 years.

And it was set to benefit from a new high-speed rail link slated to open at the end of the year.

'High-speed rail will reduce the travelling time between Hangzhou and Shanghai from one hour to 38minutes. We believe that this will further boost our economy and close the gap between the two cities,' said Ms Tong.

Addressing a key concern of potential investors - that there are insufficient qualified personnel in the area - Ms Zhu Jing, deputy director of Hangzhou Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, claimed the city had a wide talent pool on which to draw.

'We have 36 general colleges and universities with more than 400,000 students enrolled. Besides that, there are more than 80 research institutes. Therefore, there is sufficient quality human resources here,' she said.

The city is substantially dependent on services, which make up 46.3per cent of its economy, and it is targeting tourism, finance, trading and logistics, creative arts, and information and software services.

To date, Singapore has been involved in more than 250 projects in Hangzhou. They include Singapore Hangzhou Science and Technology Park and Raffles City Hangzhou.

Source: Straits Times, 20 Jan 2010.