China, Singapore to boost cooperation in business informatization

China and Singapore held a Business Informatization Exchange and Cooperation High Ranking Forum Thursday, hoping to promote a better understanding of the development of e-government and e-commerce in the two countries.

Speaking at the forum, Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Liao Xiaoqi said that the rapid development of China's Internet industry and the improvement in laws and policies concerning e- commerce have provided a solid foundation for its business informatization.

He said that the Chinese government is making efforts to enhance the penetration of e-government and e-commerce in the country.

He told Xinhua that China can learn a lot from Singapore in this field as it enjoys a leading position in the world in terms of information and communications (infocomm) technologies.

Calling the forum an important platform for the two sides to exchange views and experience, Liao said that the two countries need to set up a mechanism to enhance collaboration, upgrade the China-Singapore Economic and Trade Cooperation website to make it more informative, and to strengthen personnel exchange and training.

Peter Ong, Singapore's Permanent Secretary of Trade and Industry, said that there are immense growth opportunities in the business informatization industry which companies from Singapore and China can tap on.

He hoped that the forum would help open new doors for partnerships between infocomm companies from the two countries.

Some 100 government officials, entrepreneurs and academics from both sides participated in the forum, which was co-organized by China's Ministry of Commerce and Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Two new books titled "Handbook on Doing Business in Singapore" and "A Practical Guide to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)" were launched at the forum by the Chinese Embassy and the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, a government agency helping local companies internationalize.

The two books are the third and fourth publications of the " Singapore Trade and Investment" series, an initiative by the Chinese Embassy and the IE Singapore to help Chinese companies do business here.

The first book on listing in Singapore and the second book on Singapore Law and Tax were launched in April and October last year respectively.

Source: Xinhua