Keppel in talks to build ‘knowledge city’ in China

Source : Business Times - 24 Mar 2009

Feasibility study on Guangzhou project’s commercial viability is in the works

KEPPEL Corp is in talks with a Chinese partner to build a ‘knowledge city’ in the southern city of Guangzhou, and a feasibility study on its commercial viability is in the works, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday.

A memorandum of understanding will be signed today between Keppel and its local partner.

Mr Goh, who is in Guangzhou on the first leg of a five-day trip to Guangdong province, disclosed the mooted project during talks with Guangdong Community Party Secretary Wang Yang.

Unlike the Tianjin eco-city project now under development in northern China and spearheaded by the government, Mr Goh said that the knowledge city project, likely to be in Guangzhou itself, would be led by the private sector, principally Keppel Corp.

It would, however, get government support, such as access to public sector expertise in urban planning and environment planning, he said.

Details have not been released, but the knowledge city would likely focus on research, education and talent development.

Mr Wang, who is said to be a rising political star, said Guangdong urgently needs Singapore’s expertise in higher education and management.

He would welcome colleges jointly established with Singapore institutes, he said. ‘Our graduates lack a global vision or access to international practices’ and could learn much from Singapore’s education system.

Mr Goh said that while Guangdong is keen on Singapore talent, Singapore is equally keen to tap some of the millions of graduates in China.

‘If we can bring talent to Singapore, work here, take up citizenship, we will be very happy,’ he said.

A problem for Singapore is that a fifth of its top one per cent of students are not returning to the country to contribute to its development, he noted.

Guangdong is trying to shift its economy away from labour-intensive manufacturing, which has been stung by the global recession.

Thousands of factories in the Pearl River delta have closed and many people are out of work.

Mr Wang made a study trip to Singapore last September, when he met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Mr Goh and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Last month, Senior Minister of State (Education, and Information, Communications and the Arts) Lui Tuck Yew visited Guangdong and Mr Wang to see what Singapore can contribute to the province’s next wave of development.