Keynote Speech by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law Mr Edwin Tong SC, at the Opening of Fangda Singapore Office

上海市司法局   吴坚勇局长

韩亮主任，季诺会长，各位方达的合伙人

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

1.             Good evening.

2.             I am sorry that I cannot join all of you in-person today, to celebrate the opening of Fangda’s Singapore office.

3.             I had already committed to another engagement some time back, so I thought I would record a short message, to support季会长whom we know very well, and who has played an important role in strengthening the ties between Singapore’s and Shanghai’s legal industry.

4.             For those who do not know, 季会长was critical in pushing for the Singapore-Shanghai Lawyers Exchange Programme, where our lawyers will visit each other’s city, or spend some time in each other’s law firms. This is to allow our lawyers to better understand each other’s legal and business environment, as well as culture, nuances and way of doing things; and to widen their professional networks.

5.             So, I couldn’t say ‘no’, when he asked!

Congratulate and Welcome Fangda Partners

6.             First of all, let me congratulate Fangda on the opening of your first office outside China – right here in Singapore.

7.             Fangda is not unfamiliar to many of us in Singapore. Fangda International Arbitration, a dispute resolution branch of Fangda, has a small rep office at Maxwell Chambers Suites – our integrated dispute resolution complex – for some years now. They also have close working relations with a few of our Singapore law practices. 

8.             When季会长shared Fangda’s plans with me in Shanghai in January this year – one day after their management committee approved it, I told him that we very much welcome Fangda to set up a foreign law practice in Singapore.

Singapore’s Approach Towards Foreign Law Practices

9.             This is a position that Singapore has taken for the longest time – in fact, since the 1970s – although the key objective of encouraging law firms to set up in Singapore has changed slightly.

10.        We started by wanting to support the legal needs of foreign investors and companies in Singapore. But over time, we saw our legal services sector as a growth engine in its own right – supporting not just the enterprises in Singapore, but also other enterprises in the region and beyond.

11.        I see this as a win-win situation. For us, the foreign law practices help to bring work that would otherwise not have come to Singapore, and they engage our Singapore law firms on matters involving Singapore law. For the foreign law practices, they can provide better support to their clients from Singapore than from their home jurisdictions.

12.        Foreign law practices in Singapore are very much a part of our larger family. We engage them regularly. We consult them on our legislation and policies impacting them, and they in turn give us constructive feedback and suggestions, which allows us to improve. We invite them as speakers or participants to our events, such as the Singapore Convention Week.

13.        We do so, because we believe that there are more benefits to collaboration.

14.        Of course, there will be friendly competition amongst the law firms. But healthy competition, built on mutual respect, will only drive us to do better.

15.        At the end of the day, we want to see both Singapore and foreign law practices grow and succeed in Singapore.

Conclusion

16.        On this note, I wish Fangda all the very best in Singapore.

17.        Congratulations once again on the opening of your Singapore office. We look forward to working closely with you, to grow the legal sector in Singapore.

18.        Thank you, and wishing everyone a most pleasant evening ahead. 

Last updated on 11 October 2024