Speech by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Law, Mr Edwin Tong SC, at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Shenzhen Representative Office Grand Opening Gala

25 NOV 2024

Mr Lee Eng Beng SC, Chairman of Rajah & Tann Asia

Mr Patrick Ang, Managing Partner of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, and Vice Chairman of Rajah & Tann Asia

The many Managing Partners, Partners, colleagues and friends of Rajah & Tann Asia’s member firms

Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

  1. A very good evening to all of you.
  1. I am very honoured to celebrate yet another milestone, together with you, in Rajah & Tann Singapore’s history.
  1. I remember that it was just slightly over a year ago that I was in Shanghai, to mark the 20th anniversary of Rajah & Tann Singapore’s Shanghai representative office. And today, I am very privileged to be able to be here to witness the grand opening of Rajah & Tann Singapore’s second representative office in China – right here in Shenzhen, Qianhai. This is the first Singapore law firm, and as far as I know, currently the only one to have two offices in China.
  1. My warmest congratulations to Rajah & Tann on this very remarkable achievement! On a personal note, it is good to see so many of my old friends at Rajah & Tann lead this practice into successes around Asia.

Internationalisation of Singapore Law Practices

  1. It is very heartening for me to see, as one of the Ministers at MinLaw, our Singapore law practices doing so well overseas, and of course, flying the Singapore flag high. I say this both as a fellow member of the Bar, who has practised in the area of dispute resolution for over 25 years, alongside many of my friends here this evening, as well as in my MinLaw capacity.
  1. Rajah & Tann Asia is now the largest law firm in Southeast Asia, with offices in 9 out of 10 ASEAN countries, and a desk serving the 10th. It also has offices in China as you heard, and also desks serving Japan and South Asia – truly living up to the slogan, “Lawyers Who Know Asia”.
  1. If you heard what I said earlier this afternoon at the fireside chat, China is ASEAN’s biggest trading partner and ASEAN is China’s biggest trading partner. With this, you know how important it is to be at the crossroads of China and ASEAN and this is what Rajah & Tann has done.
  1. Besides Rajah & Tann, we also have a number of other Singapore practices, which have ventured into Southeast Asia, China, and beyond. They may not always set up physical office in these countries, but have nevertheless found ways to develop the market.

Approach to Developing Our Industry Sectors

  1. Going out, expanding in new jurisdictions, setting up a representative office, serving the clients, both inbound as well as outbound - this has been our approach in developing our industry sectors, not just the legal sector in Singapore but also encouraging our local enterprises to go out as it were. And at the same time, attracting foreign enterprises to “come in” to Singapore, essentially to work in Singapore, work through Singapore or work from Singapore.
  1. We believe that this dual approach results in a more sustainable economic growth, and greater resilience in today’s interconnected world. After all, coming in and going out mutually help us to find benefits symbiotically. It also allows Singapore – a small city state – to be plugged in to the global economy, and create our own hinterland. So, even for the legal sector, which as you might know, tends to be largely protected in many jurisdictions around us, we have gradually opened up since the 1970s.
  1. Because of this openness towards foreign investments, many Chinese enterprises have established a significant footprint in Singapore over the years. There are now more than 4,000 Chinese enterprises registered in Singapore, many of whom have their regional headquarters in Singapore. There are also Chinese companies, and they account for about one-third of the aggregate market capitalisation of SGX-listed companies.
  1. We might not be the cheapest place to do business in Southeast Asia, but Singapore can offer several competitive advantages:

(1) A pro-business environment, one that responds very much and very quickly to the evolving needs of the business industries around us;

(2) Strong rule of law, good governance, low corruption, a trusted and known legal system;

(3) Stable sociopolitical environment; and

(4) A skilled workforce, as well as the ability to attract global talent.

  1. All of these, ultimately, are important factors for companies to consider where to go when setting up. You can be assured that your investments and rights will be protected, and if you need - turns out you have a dispute, that dispute will be resolved fairly, efficiently, and effectively.

Cooperation between Singapore and China / Greater Bay Area

  1. Another reason for the strong presence of Chinese companies in Singapore, and vice versa, over the years, is in part due to the longstanding and also very warm relations between our two countries.
  1. Past and present leaders of Singapore and China, starting from Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Deng Xiaoping, have made it a point to meet regularly, and maintain our friendship. In fact, as we speak, my colleagues, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and a delegation of Singapore Ministers and officials are right here, currently in Suzhou, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Suzhou Industrial Park. Their team will also pay a visit to Beijing, as well as to Shanghai.
  1. We have also set up very high-level platforms, inculcating a strong degree of trust and building relations bit by bit at every level of government, to ensure that we continue to strengthen our ties, generation after generation of leaders.
  1. Within this, the Greater Bay Area, we have the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative, which is one of the key agenda items for the Singapore-China Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting. We just had, in fact, the 20th JCBC meeting, just about two weeks ago, where we had a very fruitful discussion.
  1. We also have the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council, co-chaired by my colleague Mr Ong Ye Kung, and the Guangdong Governor Mr Wang Weizhong, which meets once a year, to promote cooperation.
  1. Through these, and many other multilateral platforms, we have advanced our cooperation on a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, technology and innovation, digital cities and smart cities, green economy, sustainability, financial services, and so on. But most importantly, underpinning all of this, is the deep level of trust that we have with one another at every level of leadership.
  1. In the last decade, we have also started to cooperate with our Chinese counterparts in the legal and dispute resolution field.
  1. Our dispute resolution institutions – the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and Maxwell Chambers – have entered into MOUs with the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), which I just visited earlier this afternoon. They work together on joint promotion, protocols, hearings – all of which are aimed at supporting businesses in the Greater Bay Area, along the Belt and Road, and beyond.
  1. Our lawyers know each other, they visit one another, and they spend time in each other’s firms – not just understanding and knowing the different legal practices and legal rules, but getting to know one another and understanding the cultural and other contextual nuances in how they deal with clients and how they service businesses from across different jurisdictions.
  1. With Rajah & Tann now in Shenzhen, the relations between our legal industry can grow even stronger.
  1. I hope that the business community here will lend them your support – continue the good work laid down by the succeeding generations of lawyers and government that have worked hard to build the relationship, and grow the friendship between the Singapore and the Greater Bay Area.

Conclusion

  1. As the Chinese say: 在家靠父母，出外靠朋友。希望大家能成为立杰在外能依靠的朋友。祝愿立杰开业大吉，生意兴隆！也祝大家大吉大利，心想事成，身体健康！
  1. 谢谢。

Last updated on 25 November 2024