China’s One Belt One Road initiative is a massive infrastructure development plan that will span from Asia to Europe.
The city-state is the most needed market for the successful implementation of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), reported Singapore Business Review.
According to Knight Frank’s New Frontiers report, Singapore has topped its Belt and Road Index (BARI). With a score of 69.85 out of 100, the republic surpassed Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and New Zealand.
BARI gauges a country’s economic potential, institutional effectiveness, demographic advantage, infrastructure development and resilience to natural disasters.
Although Singapore recorded the weakest score of 48.92 for economic potential, it bagged 44.90 for demographic advantage and 87.69 for institutional effectiveness.
Knight Frank explained that the city-state is strategically situated along BRI’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is also at the crossroads of the East and West, strengthening its position as a global logistics and transportation hub.
Moreover, Singapore scored 78.55 for infrastructure development, with the property consultancy highlighting that 60 percent of infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia have been mainly funded by local financial institutions.
In terms of resilience to natural disasters and market accessibility, the republic obtained a score of 98.77 and 100 respectively.
Additionally, the Ministry of Trade and Industry revealed that the number of Chinese firms here have nearly doubled from five years ago to over 6,500. The city-state is also major financial hub and one of the biggest offshore Renminbi exchanges.
“Not only has Singapore the required synergy and connectivity with China and the other BRI countries, but it is also armed with an unprecedented depth of resources and expertise to facilitate the continuous development of BRI, including masterplanning, logistics and financing,” noted Knight Frank.
Furthermore, it added that China has made about US$3.87 billion in property investments in Singapore.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
