S'pore opens financial centre

Singapore has lifted itself to another level with the official opening of the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) – the largest mixed-use development in the new downtown area, which is now home to banks, legal companies and commodities businesses.

Presiding over the opening ceremony late Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that banking and financial services account for more than 12 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP). The sector is expected to grow by 3 per cent this year.

Singapore’s GDP is valued at about US$300 billion (about Bt8.9 trillion).

“The high quality business environment has strengthened Singapore’s position as a global financial hub,” he told the audience, which included local and international bigwigs in the financial sector. “We are a hub for many high-value financial services… [and] global businesses – for example, StanChart’s global consumer and wholesale banking is managed out of Singapore.”

 

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RWYeTH35M28" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

MBFC is now home to more than 20,000 office workers. The project, comprising three office buildings with combined space of over 3 million square feet and two residential towers, started off in 2005. Some 4 billion Singapore dollars (Bt95 billion) has been invested in it. At present, it is the regional headquarters of the UK’s Standard Chartered Bank and the headquarters of Singapore’s DBS Bank.

The new landmark occupies a section of a newly reclaimed piece of land that is planned as the new downtown for Singapore. It is situated next to the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel.

According to the prime minister, the new downtown is steadily taking shape, and with MBFC, Singapore’s position as a financial centre in Asia is reinforced. Besides the new prime office space – which also sets a new standard for environmental friendliness – Singapore’s competitive advantage lies in its regulatory and supervisory regime, deep pool of local and global talent, and global connectivity, Lee said. To meet challenges in the financial sector, he promised closer collaboration with global financial regulators.

Amid the new global financial challenges, Lee said he foresaw the financial sector continuing to benefit Singapore’s economy and its citizens by creating jobs and promoting growth in other sectors, like legal services. 

“We must strengthen our pro-business environment, so international companies and professionals continue to find Singapore a good place to do business,” he said.

Inspired by the success of London’s Canary Wharf, MBFC has set a new stage for Singapore, whose financial sector took off in the late 1990s after liberalisation. It is part of the government’s plan to develop a world-class business and financial hub, on top of the plan to expand the central business district. In the 1960s, land reclamation in Marina Bay started to accommodate the expansion.

When it handed the 3.5-hectare area on Marina Bay for development to the joint venture of Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hongkong Land and Keppel Land, the government set the condition that the centre conform to the government’s “work-live-play” concept for Marina Bay.

To Warren Bishop, chief executive officer of Raffles Quay Asset Management – which owns the development – this property offers a quality work environment, the best waterfront living and a variety of dining and shopping options. “It has set a new regional standard for integrated mixed-use developments, on par with that of renowned financial centres around the world.”

To mark the opening, the company also set up the S$1 million RQAM Study Grants for students at four universities in Singapore to nurture the next generation of business leaders, some of whom will likely work at MBFC in the future.