The 11th Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council meeting was held in Suzhou on Thursday morning. Wu Zhenglong, governor of Jiangsu, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. Heng Swee Keat, Finance Minister of Singapore, gave a speech.
Governor Wu expressed his warm welcome and gratitude to the people from all walks of life for their long-term support to Jiangsu’s development and the Jiangsu-Singapore cooperation.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, President Xi Jinping pointed out that both sides should consolidate and develop new relations, strengthen the strategic docking for development and deepen all-round cooperation.
The Jiangsu-Singapore cooperation has entered the period of new development opportunities, the governor said, adding that Jiangsu is looking forward to more cooperation in a wider range of fields by giving full play to the role of the Jiangsu-Singapore Cooperation Council through strategic docking, information communication and project promotion.
Heng Swee Keat, Finance Minister of Singapore, said the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council established a decade ago has made a positive contribution to the promotion of bilateral relations.
He hoped that both sides would deepen the cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship through the opportunities brought about by China’s Belt and Road Initiative for the promotion of the bilateral ties to a new height.
Governor Wu met with Minister Heng before the meeting which summarized the work in 2017, hailed the cooperative achievements in the past year and discussed the plan for the cooperation in the next year.
Heng Swee Keat also chaired the launched ceremony for BLOCK71 Suzhou - an incubation space initiative to promote tech innovation and entrepreneurship between Singapore and China.
Mr Heng unveiled the new initiative at the 11th Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council meeting.
BLOCK71 Suzhou will operate in two locations: one within the Suzhou Industrial Park, and the other at Ascendas iHub Suzhou. It is managed by NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, and supported by the NUS Suzhou Research Institute and Ascendas-Singbridge.
BLOCK71 Suzhou will provide support for Singapore entrepreneurs and tech startups looking to explore business opportunities in China and other new markets, while leveraging the three partners' global networks and resources.
