Lee stresses on building ties with China, India

Singapore, Feb 24 (UNI) Minister Mentor of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew has stressed the importance for the island state to build ties with the region and with countries such as China and India.

He said Singapore could also move into the upper half of First World nations in the next 10 to 20 years.

''Singapore has revamped itself but it must continue to grow,'' said Mr Lee at his annual Lunar New Year dinner, held last night, at his port side constituency of Tanjong Pagar.

Mr Lee projected next five years for Singapore to be good for economic growth, barring accidents, and stressed that city state had no choice but to attract investments, especially by keeping its corporate and personal income taxes low.

Singapore must also make itself a great place to live and raise children in, to attract investments from the most advanced countries, he said, adding that the island city must continue to attract foreign talent.

''It is in our interest to make them feel welcome, and to integrate them into our community, because they are the extra megabytes in our computer,'' he said of the foreign talent.

''The Singaporeans form the hard disk whether it's 5 gigabyte or whatever, you need this extra megabyte to be able to cope with all the expansion which we are now experiencing,'' Channel News Asia quoted Mr Lee as saying.

Mr Lee highlighted Singapore's various transformation like having a more vibrant night scene and cultural life, pointing out that the state was starting to be lively and vibrant like London and New York.

UNI