Attendees talk at the 10th Meeting of the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council on Nov 18.[Photo/southcn.com]

The 10th Meeting of the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council got underway in Guangzhou on Nov 18. Guangdong Governor Ma Xingrui and Singapore Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, co-chairmen for the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council, presided over the event and addressed the audience.

Prior to the meeting, Li Xi, Party Chief of Guangdong province, met with Ong. The Guangdong Party Chief extended a welcome to his Singaporean guest, and briefed Ong on Guangdong's social and economic development. 

Li said that Guangdong and Singapore have maintained close exchanges and cooperation for a long time.

He expressed hope that Guangdong and Singapore can seize the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economic and trade investment, smart cities, culture and education, as well as personnel training to better improve the well-being of residents in the two areas. 

Ma spoke highly of the council's work in deepening Guangdong-Singapore cooperation and communications over the past 10 years since its inception. He urged Guangdong and Singapore to plan new cooperative projects, promote the construction of Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City with high standards, increase efforts to promote cooperation between enterprises, as well as expand the scope for further cooperation.  

According to Ong, Singapore and Guangdong have been in close contact with each other and have had remarkable cooperation in various fields since the founding of the council.  

Singaporean enterprises have seen great new opportunities brought by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Shenzhen demonstration pilot zone for socialism with Chinese characteristics, as well as Guangzhou's "Old City, New Vitality" initiative, said Ong.   

He added that Singapore will strive to enhance the effects of the council, deepening cooperation with Guangdong in the areas of trade and investment, innovative development, financial services, smart cities, as well as talent strategies to achieve mutually beneficial results.

At the conference, the officials exchanged insights on the Greater Bay Area and smart city construction. A memorandum was signed to deepen Guangdong-Singapore cooperation by Ma and Ong, who also witnessed the signing of 20 cooperation agreements.

The 7th China-Singapore Knowledge Forum was hosted on the same day.