新加坡贸工部划重点：新柔特区启动后，这些行业要火！

安迪 （碧山-大巴窑集选区议员） 询问副总理兼贸工部长：

（a）柔新经济特区 （JS-SEZ） 预计带来的经济效益、就业创造及受益领域？（b）政府是否担心某些领域受负面影响及企业外迁？

（c）是否有适用于投资柔新经济特区的新加坡企业的政府激励计划？

陈圣辉 （ 贸工部兼文化、社区及青年部政务部长，代表贸工部长） ：议长先生，柔新经济特区旨在发挥新加坡与柔佛的互补优势，提升新加坡竞争力并为国民创造优质就业。制造业、物流业和数字经济等领域将受益于跨境货物流通和人员往来的便利化。

许多总部设在新加坡的公司已经在新加坡和柔佛州开展结对业务。企业可以将部分业务设在柔佛州，以利用那里的资源，同时将总部和研究职能集中在新加坡，因为新加坡在这方面具有相对优势。例如，巴黎贝甜 （Paris Baguette） 的母公司韩国 SPC 集团在新加坡设有地区总部和创新中心，而其地区生产基地则在柔佛。

我们还可以共同吸引新的投资进入联合经济特区，这些投资可能会在新加坡开展业务或利用新加坡提供的服务。例如，总部设在新加坡的农业商品和食品配料公司安锐可 （Agrocorp） 最近与日本合作伙伴在柔佛州新建了一家工厂，以扩大其植物蛋白提取的下游能力。该工厂将采用 安锐可 （Agrocorp） 和新加坡理工学院 （Singapore Institute of Technology） 开发的蛋白质提取技术。随着我们公司的发展，这些在柔佛州的投资为新加坡经济创造了价值。

我最近与新加坡工商联合总会 （SBF） 进行了交谈，他们告诉我，本月晚些时候，将有100多家新加坡公司参加新加坡工商联合总会派前往柔佛经济特区的商务代表团。因此，那里也有相当大的投资兴趣。

为此，我们将继续通过现有的企业支持计划，为新加坡的企业提供支持。符合条件的新加坡公司投资于柔新联合经济特区，可以寻求新加坡企业发展局管理的市场进入协助计划 （ Market Readiness Assistance Grant） 和企业融资计划 （ Enterprise Financing Scheme） 的支持。马来西亚也宣布了对联合经济特区的一揽子激励措施，包括对符合条件的投资实行特殊的公司税和所得税税率，并打算在准备就绪后公布更多细节。

议长 先生：有请安迪先生。

安迪 （碧山-大巴窑集选区议员）： 谢谢议长先生。感谢政务部长的回答。我有几个补充问题。首先，关于我提出的国会问题，我仍然希望得到政务部长的答复，即政府是否担心某些特定行业将受到不利影响，某些投资或公司和企业是否可能由于柔新经济特区政策而搬迁，以及贸工部 （MTI） 是否有任何关于柔新经济特区第一阶段和未来阶段创造就业数字的预测。

其次，政务部长提到马来西亚推出了一些激励措施。我看到马来西亚投资发展局的激励措施涵盖制造业、化工、全球服务枢纽、综合旅游项目和智能物流等行业。这些也是新加坡希望涵盖的一些项目。此外，还有针对知识型员工的激励措施。是否会有缓解措施，确保一些原本打算进入新加坡的投资不会受到影响。

最后，我从一些部门得到了一些反馈，包括我担任顾问的运输协会。他们关心的是，马来西亚物流业进入新加坡，是否会对运输和物流业造成一些影响，以及这些行业会受到怎样的影响。

陈圣辉 （ 贸工部兼文化、社区及青年部政务部长，代表贸工部长） ：议长 先生，感谢安迪先生的提问。 事实上，这些都是我们在实地与各行各业的企业进行频繁交流时获得的意见。 我经常与 新加坡工商联合总会 （SBF） 会面，包括上周，当时 新加坡工商联合总会 （SBF） 也表达了许多与议员相同的观点。 我最近还去了柔佛州，访问了该区，会见了马来西亚领导人。 因此，讨论仍在继续。 我们将公布更多细节。 我们也在关注柔新经济特区将对双方产生的所有影响。

我想退后一步，从更大的视角来看待这个问题，看看柔新经济特区能带来什么。纵观全球经济格局，它越来越不确定，充满活力，瞬息万变。正如我们在过去几周所看到的，全球在人才、贸易和投资方面的竞争愈演愈烈。因此，新加坡要想保持竞争力，就必须更加灵活，更加创新，增强竞争力。如果执行得当，柔新经济特区将为我们带来额外的竞争优势。它将为我们提供机会，事实上，它将为我们提供动力，使我们能够在固有优势的基础上更上一层楼。这些固有优势并不容易复制。这些都是经过几十年的发展而形成的。它们是新加坡独有的。它们赋予新加坡竞争优势。

这些特质是与生俱来的。例如，强有力的法治、监管和政治稳定、创新思维、人才、研发、互联互通和强大的金融中心。

首先，它为我们提供了在已有优势的基础上再接再厉的机会和动力，但同时也为我们提供了动力，以确保我们必须加强已有的优势，从而持续保持竞争优势。

其次，柔新经济特区还将为我们提供机会，利用柔佛州的优势来弥补我们固有的劣势。我们的弱点或劣势是众所周知的，那就是我们的土地、人力和自然资源。因此，这为我们提供了一个机会，使我们能够发挥自身优势，并利用经济特区的优势来提高我们的竞争力。

这样做的最终目的是什么？最终目标是吸引新的公司、新的投资者，这些公司、投资者迄今为止可能还没有把新加坡作为投资目的地，甚至可能在他们的投资清单上，新加坡的排名稍稍靠后。它为企业提供了一个价值主张，而这些企业在此之前可能并没有这样的价值主张，但现在却被这一价值主张所吸引。

至于议员刚才提出的问题，正如我在原来的答复所说，现在已有新加坡公司在该处设立办事处。在我们与很多新加坡公司的讨论中，他们确实打算在两边都开展业务。他们正在研究有关情况，并将在适当的时候作出决定。但我认为，无论是对整个经济特区，还是对新加坡和柔佛州独特的相对优势和互补优势而言，其价值主张都是相当明显的。

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the projected economic and job creation benefits and which sectors will benefit from the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ); (b) whether the Government is concerned that some sectors will be adversely affected and certain investments and firms will relocate to JS-SEZ; and (c) whether there are Government incentive schemes such as productivity grants or investment incentives that can be extended to Singapore companies investing in the JS-SEZ.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry) : Mr Speaker, Sir, the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) seeks to capitalise on the complementary strengths of Singapore and Johor to strengthen Singapore's competitiveness and to create good jobs for Singaporeans. Businesses across sectors including manufacturing, logistics and digital economy can benefit from the improved cross-border flow of goods and people, and ease of doing business in the JS-SEZ.

Many Singapore-based companies already have twinning operations in Singapore and Johor. Firms could benefit from siting some of their operations in Johor to take advantage of the resources there, whilst focusing headquarters and research functions in Singapore, where we have relative strengths. For instance, South Korea's SPC Group, the parent company of Paris Baguette, operates its regional headquarters and innovation centre in Singapore, while its regional production base is in Johor.

We can also jointly attract new investments to the JS-SEZ, which may establish operations in Singapore or tap on the services provided by Singapore. For example, Agrocorp, an agri-commodities and food ingredient firm headquartered in Singapore, recently expanded its downstream capabilities in plant protein extraction with a new plant with its Japanese partner in Johor. This plant will use protein extraction technology developed by Agrocorp and the Singapore Institute of Technology. These investments in Johor create value for the Singapore economy as our firms grow.

I caught up with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) recently and they told me that over 100 Singapore firms will be joining the SBF business mission to the JS-SEZ later this month. So, there is also considerable investment interest there.

In that vein, we will continue to support businesses in Singapore through existing enterprise support schemes. Eligible Singapore companies investing in the JS-SEZ can seek support from schemes such as the Market Readiness Assistance Grant and Enterprise Financing Scheme administered by Enterprise Singapore. Malaysia has also announced an incentive package for the JS-SEZ, including special corporate and income tax rates for qualifying investments, and intend to announce more details when ready.

Mr Speaker : Mr Saktiandi.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh) : Mr Speaker, thank you. I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I have a few supplementary questions. First, in relation to the Parliamentary Question that I had filed, I would still like to get the Minister of State's response whether the Government is concerned that some specific sectors will be adversely affected, whether certain investments or companies and firms will likely relocate to the JS-SEZ as a result of the JS-SEZ, and whether there are any projections of job creation numbers that the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has in relation to the JS-SEZ within the first phase and future phases.

Second, the Minister of State mentioned about Malaysia introducing some incentives. I have read that the Malaysian Investment Development Authority's incentives cover sectors such as manufacturing, chemicals, global services hub, integrated tourism projects and smart logistics. These are also some projects that Singapore wants to cover. There are also incentives for knowledge workers. Will there be mitigation measures to make sure that some of the investments that were intended to come into Singapore will not be affected.

Lastly, I have got some feedback about concerns from some sectors including the transport association where I am an advisor to. These are concerns about whether there is some impact on the transport and logistics sectors and how they might be affected by Malaysian logistics coming into Singapore.

Mr Alvin Tan : Sir, I thank Mr Saktiandi Supaat for his questions. Indeed, these are views that we have also gotten on the ground in our frequent interactions with businesses across different sectors. I have met SBF very regularly, including last week when a lot of the same views that have been shared by the Member were also shared by SBF. I was also recently in Johor, visiting the zone, meeting with Malaysian leaders. So, the discussions are ongoing. More details will be released. And we are monitoring all the impact that the JS-SEZ will have on both sides.

I wanted to take a step back and look at it from a bigger perspective and what the JS-SEZ has to offer. If we look at the global economic landscape, it is increasingly uncertain, it is dynamic, it is ever-changing. The global competition as we have seen over the last couple of weeks has intensified for talent, for trade and also for investments. So, it is imperative that if Singapore wants to be competitive, we need to be more nimble, we need to be more innovative, we need to enhance our competitive game. If executed well, the JS-SEZ will give us that additional competitive edge. It will give us the opportunity and in fact, it would give us the impetus to build on our inherent strengths. These inherent strengths are not that easy to replicate. These have been grown over decades. They are quite uniquely Singaporean. And they give Singapore that competitive edge.