ravi menon : stepping up the chongqing - singapore connection keynote address by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the singapore - china ( chongqing ) financial conference, singapore, 4 september 2017. * * * vice mayor liu guiping, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. more than 2000 years ago, the silk road connected, by land and sea, the major economies of the time, enriching the lives of many people along its routes. and now 2000 years later, chongqing, one of china ’ s “ super - cities ”, is part of the effort to revive this great heritage. chongqing is strategically placed. it is a pivotal node on the one belt, one road, connecting the growing economies of south and southeast asia with the rest of china it is also an important city along the yangtze river economic belt and a key player in the overall development of the western region. in short, chongqing is a cornerstone of regional connectivity. singapore is proud to be a partner to chongqing in this historic project, through the chongqing connectivity initiative, or cci. and so, i am happy today to welcome you to the second singapore - china ( chongqing ) financial conference, to take stock of the progress we have made together and to set new goals for the future. china and singapore – a vibrant economic relationship the backdrop to cci is, of course, the larger china - singapore economic relationship – one of the strongest in asia. china is singapore ’ s largest trading partner. singapore is china ’ s fourth largest trading partner in asean. between 2000 and 2016, china - singapore trade has increased seven times, to more than usd 80 billion. singapore is the largest foreign direct investor in china. since 2010, singapore ’ s direct investment into china has grown by an average 13. 4 % each year. chinese financial institutions have significantly increased their presence in singapore in recent years. bank of china and icbc have expanded considerably in singapore over the past 4 years. they have set up in singapore their regional centres – for commodities, trade financing, rmb trading, private banking, and debt capital markets. other chinese banks have established in singapore their first international operations. earlier this year, the shanghai pudong development bank opened in singapore its first overseas branch outside of china and hong kong. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches china construction bank opened its infrastructure services and private banking centres in singapore. china merchants bank established in singapore its

the next phase of cci. 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches first, unlocking private sector financing for infrastructure projects ; second, expanding the role of capital markets in financing growth ; third, developing risk management solutions to support investment ; and fourth, strengthening financial capabilities and mutual learning. unlocking private sector financing for infrastructure projects first, private sector financing for infrastructure projects, especially in the context of the belt and road initiative. the cci can serve as a key priority demonstration project to operationalise the belt and road initiative. the belt and road initiative is breath - taking in its strategic vision. at one level, it is about promoting economic growth in the countries of asia through infrastructure development. the asian development bank estimates that developing asian countries will need to invest us $ 1. 7 trillion annually in infrastructure until 2030 to maintain their growth momentum. but at a deeper level, the belt and road initiative is about bringing together the countries of asia through greater connectivity – deeper links of transport and communications, stronger flows of trade and investment, greater movement of people and ideas. the belt and road ’ s potential scope for connectivity is perhaps unmatched in human history. as an international financial centre in the heart of asia, singapore can play a useful role in financing and advancing belt and road projects, particularly in southeast asia. chinese banks in singapore have committed more than rmb 500 billion ( usd 73. 4 billion ) in financing singaporean companies involved in belt and road projects, including the issuance of project bonds. china construction bank singapore branch issued rmb 1 billion ( usd 145 million ) of belt and road initiative bonds in august last year. and in may this year, bank of china singapore branch issued belt and road initiative bonds worth rmb 4 billion ( usd 600 million ). expanding the role of capital markets in financing growth second, the cci has embarked on a demonstrative project to expand the role of our capital markets. this complements the role of banks in financing growth and development. specifically, we should facilitate the participation of institutional investors in development projects. why? china has many public - private partnership ( ppp ) projects, where the state and companies involved own and operate infrastructure assets. in chongqing itself, rmb 800 billion worth of ppp projects are expected to be in the pipeline between 2015 and 2020. but infrastructure assets are illiquid by nature. the capital invested is locked up and not available for use in other development projects. 3 / 5 bis central bankers