Singapore lifts its status in global financial world
Singapore - Singapore on Wednesday officially unveiled its new financial centre, Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), set to further strengthen the city state's strengths in financial services in Asia.
Presiding over the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that banking and financial services account for more than 12 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product. The sector is expected to grow by 3 per cent this year.
The investment, constituting of three office buildings with combined space of over three million square feet and two residential towers, started off in 2005. The project has required an investment of four billion Singapore dollar. At present, it is the regional headquarter of UK’s Standard Chartered Bank and the headquarter of Singapore’s DBS Bank.
MBFC controls parts of the newly-reclaimed piece of land, planned to be the new downtown for Singapore. It is situated next to famous Marina Bay Sands.
“The high quality business environment has strengthened Singapore’s position as a global financial hub,” he told the audience, the local and international big-wigs in the financial sector. “We are a hub for many high-value financial services… Global businesses, for example, StanChart’s global consumer and wholesale banking is managed out of Singapore.”
