Opening Remarks by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee at Media Wrap-up with Singapore Media in Beijing, on DPM Lawrence Wong's official visit to People's Republic of China
Dec 8, 2023
大家下午好。我们今年庆祝中新天津生态城15周年，所以非常高兴能够在天津生态城主办今年的联委会，让两国领导亲临生态城，见证多年来丰硕的成果。
早在15年前，我们两国领导就注重可持续发展和自然生态的保护，所以决定在盐碱荒地进行两国之间的合作项目。这15年来，我们把这片盐碱荒地改造成一个非常宜居的生态城，见证了两国之间合作所能达到的一些成果。
过去的15年，我们注重低碳可持续发展和建设宜居的生态城。接下来的15年，展望未来，我们现在是注重绿色经济发展，因为全世界现在面对的是一个棘手的问题，就是气候变化。可是每个国家都必须在进行应对气候变化的工作的时候，和经济发展之间要取得一个适当的，可持续性的，重要的平衡点。
所以，两国把生态城立为“国家绿色发展示范区”的升级版能让我们两国跟两国之间的企业在生态城示范不同的低碳，可持续发展的一些解决方案，能够在生态城，也可能在中国其他城市和其他国家做复制的工作。这不仅会拉近两国之间的关系，也能让我们的国人和新加坡企业通过生态城的合作受益。
我们在生态城15年周年庆的时候 定下 了15 项新合作项目，不仅是政府与政府之间的合作项目，也有商业合作，包括吉宝集团与新加坡中小型企业签署了一个“低碳和智慧城市企业联盟”的合作项目，让我们的中小型企业在生态城进行一些试点项目。同时，我们的新科大（SUTD）和其他的一些科研中心也跟天津签署了备忘录。所以，这不仅是政府之间，也是企业之间，和科研大学之间的，重要的合作项目。
我们会抓紧这个良机，加深两国之间的合作，充分地利用生态城升级版的项目来朝向低碳，可持续发展的重要宗旨努力。
We are very glad that to mark the 15th anniversary of the Tianjin Eco-City, we have the opportunity to hold the JCBC in Tianjin and the opportunity to see firsthand and close-up the work of a generation of leaders and officials and businesses, at a time when sustainability was not yet on top of the global agenda.
Our two leaders, 15 years ago, decided to pursue the Eco-City project — perhaps the world's first government-to-government collaboration on environmental sustainability at the city level. And over the 15 years, you've seen how salt pans and polluted waterbodies have been transformed into the highly liveable environment you see today, where smart technology is now enabling life to be better.
This has not only benefited bilateral relations, but has enabled Singaporeans and our enterprises to benefit through the Eco-City project in test-bedding solutions for wider applicability, because the market here (in China) is large, and Tianjin is one of the gateways to the Jing-Jin-Ji region, which is a major zone here in China.
On the 15th anniversary of the Eco-City, we launched 15 new cooperation initiatives: government-to-government, among businesses, and among researchers. So it's a very comprehensive next bound for the Eco-City that we're looking into, focusing on the refreshed “3+2” framework: one vertical pillar on green growth, one vertical pillar on low-carbon living, and a third vertical on ecological resilience; and two important horizontals focusing on innovation and talent development, as well as on governance.
And on top of that, we are going to work closely with our Tianjin counterparts and the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in China, because Tianjin Eco-City will now be the upgraded version of the National Green Development Demonstration Zone. The next bound of TEC development in the next 15 years builds upon the efforts to promote sustainable living, and now focusing very much on green and sustainable low-carbon development.
Green and sustainable development is a conundrum that all countries around the world face, because in the pursuit of development, how do you balance that with the carbon imperative — how to reach net-zero — all countries have the target.
This Eco-City project allows us to collaborate with our Chinese counterparts, allows businesses from Singapore to also collaborate (with Chinese businesses), to try to strike a balance — test and pilot different solutions that allow enterprises to flourish whilst keeping a close eye on carbon emissions. We look forward to this work.
PSA and MPA signed MOUs with Tianjin port operators and authorities to promote digital and green shipping. And that really adds to the overall proposition of the upgraded Eco-City — not just green economy, but also digital and green shipping. And I think that will create lots of opportunities for Singaporeans and our businesses as well.