Bookmark & Share
The Sino-Singapore joint venture, which has already drawn significant projects in its initial phase, is applying for Beijing's approval to offer special terms to companies setting up shop in the eco-city.
This will help to offset 'the higher costs' of starting operations in an eco-friendly environment, Mr Mah told reporters after a meeting with the Singapore-Tianjin eco-city committee.
'There are some inherent costs here: higher green standards...and environment protection costs,' he said.
On top of this, the 50 billion yuan (S$10 billion) project is currently being built from scratch at Binhai New Area, 45km away from Tianjin's city centre.
But special incentives will help to offset such costs and concerns among investors, making the city competitive against other 'green' industrial parks in China and abroad vying for investors, he said.
Mr Mah did not specify what incentives he was referring to. But the usual incentives include tax breaks and subsidies on office rental.
The eco-city is looking to attract 10 billion yuan worth of investment this year, Mr Cui Guangzhi, vice-chairman of the eco-city administrative committee which plans and oversees the project, told state media Xinhua in March.
Mr Mah acknowledged that the economic crisis will have some impact on the eco-city and possibly even trigger 'some slowdown in investments'.
But the project has already 'made a lot of progress (in terms of) hardware' since its ground-breaking in September last year, he noted. It will now 'shift its focus to software development' like creating a place where people from all walks of life live in harmony with the environment.
Salt-clogged mining areas have been turned into lush greenery and discussions on sharing Singapore's know-how in public housing development are underway.
Meanwhile, a ground-breaking ceremony for a new 30 ha business park, expected to attract eco-friendly business investments totalling 2 billion yuan in five to six years' time, took place yesterday.
The park has attracted investments, including a national-level animation centre. Auto giant Toyota, PetroChina and the Tianjin Beijiang power plant have also inked agreements.
Property developers and firms from countries including the United States and Japan have already committed to invest in the first phase of the 4 km sq start-up area in the eco-city, said Mr Goh Chye Boon, chief executive of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development, the project's master developer.
'The financial crisis has not affected Tianjin - economic growth in the first quarter was 16 per cent, among the highest among all the provinces in China,' he said. 'We picked the right location for the eco-city.'
Mr Mah is in Tianjin for a three-day viist which ends tomorrow. Yesterday, he also met Tianjin party secretary Zhang Gaoli for an hour-long meeting.
He is accompanied by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, and a delegation of 65 representatives from 40 Singapore-based companies who are exploring investment opportunities in the eco-city.
Search Property News
