lim hng kiang : singapore – pursuing broader and deeper economic integration with major economies opening keynote speech by mr lim hng kiang, minister for trade and industry and deputy chairman of the monetary authority of singapore, at deutsche bank access asia conference 2013, singapore, 20 may 2013. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to all of you. it is my pleasure to join you at deutsche bank ’ s access asia conference 2013. let me first thank deutsche bank for the invitation to speak at your conference. this is the largest event hosted by deutsche bank each year globally, and a huge turnout is a clear indicator of the strong corporate and investor interest in asia. in the last 10 years, the centre of gravity of the world economy has been moving away from the us and europe to asia. asia is expected to continue to prosper in the decades ahead as the middle class expands in line with strong economic growth. china is set to be the largest economy in the world by 2030 and is already creating megacities of over 10 million at an average rate of one per year. besides china, india ’ s middle class is expected to grow to almost 600 million people by 2025. in indonesia, almost 60 per cent of indonesian households, in a country of 240 million people, are expected to reach middle - class status by 2020. being a very small state, singapore has and will continue to maintain an open economy. we will participate actively to propagate free and open trading alliances as asia grows and becomes more economically integrated. in this way, we help to unlock the value, spin off new opportunities and create good jobs for singaporeans. asean and aec 2015 one key market for singapore is asean. asean is a growing region and has a combined population of 600 million people. asean also has a gdp that is the third largest in asia, after china and japan. in recent years, asean has embarked on an enterprise to integrate our economies into a regional bloc. asean today, through initiatives like the asean free trade area, has resulted in virtually no tariffs for flows of goods between our countries. going forward, asean is making good progress towards becoming the single market and product base envisioned in the asean economic community ( aec ). the realisation of the aec by 2015 will result in an even more tightly integrated region, and this has opened up more opportunities for corporates as well as investors. a key principle underpinning the aec 2015 is the

a few words about how i see the role of the sicc in singapore ’ s future development. given the diverse markets in which sicc members operate, your chamber can play an important role in helping our companies internationalise and seize global opportunities. the sicc can help your members move into new areas of growth like the middle east. i am glad to note that more links and collaboration are being forged between sicc and your counterparts in the middle east. we have just witnessed the signing of mous between the sicc and the riyadh and abu dhabi chambers ’ of commerce and industry. i also encourage sicc to collaborate with ie singapore and the singapore business federation to organise more networking platforms to forge partnerships between foreign and local companies. for instance, given our knowledge and connections, singapore can serve as a bridge for middle eastern investors interested in going into china. finally, let me once again congratulate the sicc on your 170th anniversary and wish the sicc and its members continued success. thank you.