MEDIA RELEASE

Singapore- collaboration heightens with seven MOUs inked between Singapore companies and Russian counterparts in two months Inaugural business seminar takes place in Singapore today.

MR No.: 058/10 Singapore, Monday, 27 September 2010

1. More Singapore-based companies are set to make headway into the vast Russian Federation market with seven Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) inked between Singapore-based companies and counterparts from the Russian Federation within a short span of two months.

2. The three MOUs signed today were: i) MOU between RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd and the Tatarstan Ministry of Information & Communication Technologies – This provides the framework for both parties to explore the provision of professional master planning, architectural and engineering design consultancy services for a state-of-the-art IT Village to be built in , the capital city of Tatarstan. This MOU was signed at the “Spotlight on Tatarstan” business seminar this morning and witnessed by Mr Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan and Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State (MOS) for Trade & Industry and Manpower, who graced the seminar.

ii) MOU between Singapore-based Europort International Pte Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Portek International Limited) and Russian Armley Investments Limited – Under the MOU, both parties will explore the joint investment, development and operation of a new port terminal in Kaliningrad, a region of the Russian Federation that borders the

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IE Media Release 27 Sep 10

Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland. The MOU was signed at the sidelines of the Russia-Singapore Business Forum (RSBF) 2010.

iii) MOU between Singapore-based ME Projects Pte Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of CWT Limited) and Europort International Pte Ltd, and Russian company JSC Vladmorrybport – The MOU outlines the steps to be taken by the various parties commencing with due diligence to be conducted by CWT and Europort on the feasibility of CWT and Europort becoming shareholders in the port and jointly developing the port with its current shareholders. The JSC Vladmorrybport is located in Vladivostok. The MOU was signed at the sidelines of the RSBF 2010.

3. The other four MOUs were recently signed in August during a business mission to the Republic of Tatarstan led by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore to help Singapore’s education players better understand the Russian education and learning environment. Singapore companies Educare, Marshall Cavendish and ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) Pte Ltd signed MOUs with the Tatarstan Ministry of Education and Science (MES) to work on the professional training of school teachers and leaders, development of new teaching materials and implementation of the concept of ‘Future Schools’ 1 respectively. (Please refer to Annex for more details)

4. Said Mr Chong Lit Cheong, Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore, “In the first eight months of 2010, Singapore-Russia bilateral trade hit S$3.14 billion, an increase of 37% from the S$2.29 billion figure over the same period last year. This reflects the growing relations between both countries. Besides trade, Singapore- based companies can offer a diverse and comprehensive mix of services such as master planning for IT parks, infocomm technology solutions (ICT) and education. These are what the Russian Federation is seeking in its next phase of growth and Singapore-based companies should explore such opportunities to contribute their know-how. The seven MOUs signed within a short span of two months attest to the confidence that our Russian counterparts have in Singapore.”

Singapore-based companies gaining ground in Russia 5. The above MOUs were a result of assistance from IE Singapore and reflect the increasing business partnerships between Singapore and Russia. One example of

1 The FutureSchools@Singapore is an initiative by the Ministry of Education to harness ICT effectively for engaged learning, and to keep Singapore’s education system and programmes relevant in preparing our students for the future.

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such engagement is the recent joint venture ‘Vostok Raffles’ established in the first half of this year between Russian State-owned Enterprise United Shipbuilding Corporation and Singapore-based Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard to construct a new shipyard in Vladivostok. Another example is the appointment of JURONG Consultants in May this year to master plan the 300-hectare Pushchino Technopark, which will focus on developments in biotechnology.

6. On the retail front, Russian consumers will soon get a taste of Singapore as home- grown True Heritage Brew schedules to launch its Singapore Sling premixes in the Russian food services outlets in the last quarter of 2010. Another successful company is Gajah International, which has been exporting its innovative multimedia electronics, such as eBook Readers, portable speakers and MP3 players to the Russian Federation through top-tier Russian consumer electronics branding companies.

Russia’s new developments bring opportunities in ICT and infrastructure 7. Economic diversification, innovation and modernisation are slated to be the key pillars driving growth in Russia. On top of these, the Russian Government is actively pursuing foreign technology collaboration. Coupled with Russia’s recovering economy and rising disposable income, these developments present opportunities for Singapore-Russian partnerships in sectors such as IT park development, infocomm technology, infrastructure and retail.

8. In its push for innovation such as the development of five high-tech sectors including ICT, biomedical, space, nuclear and energy conservation, the Russian Government has made a decision to establish a Russian Silicon Valley called ‘Innograd’. JURONG Consultants has been shortlisted as the only Asian contender to bid for the development of the town planning concept for the proposed Skolkovo Innovation Center Site in Innograd.

9. In the ICT arena, IDA International will be signing an MOU with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation tomorrow to collaborate on ICT projects.

Tatarstan, a promising region for partnerships 10. The “Spotlight on Tatarstan” business seminar today garnered a strong turnout of about 100 participants from Russian and Singapore companies. “Spotlight on Tatarstan” is a feature event of the RSBF 2010, which is organised under the

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auspices of IE Singapore. Tatarstan is one of the most promising and high-growth regions for business partnerships among the 83 federal subjects in Russia. The largest industrial centre in Russia, Tatarstan accounted for 3% of the Gross Regional Product in Russia in 2009. It also emerged second on the index of competitiveness and third on the development of human potential in the 2009 ranking among the Russian regions2.

11. The bilateral exchanges between Singapore and Tatarstan have also been frequent this year. Following the visit led by Mr Albert Gilmutdinov, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan to Singapore in May 2010 to study Singapore’s education system, Mr Nikolay Nikiforov, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies of the Republic of Tatarstan visited Singapore in July 2010 to learn more about Singapore’s e-Government system and traffic management solutions.

Annex: Details on the four MOUs signed in August 2010

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Note to Editor Please use ‘IE Singapore’ or ‘IE’ if an acronym for ‘International Enterprise Singapore’ is required. In addition, unless otherwise stated, the use of statistics cited in our media releases, website or Statlink, should be attributed to IE Singapore.

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Ms CHENG Kiat Loon Senior Manager, Corporate Communications Group DID : + 65 6433 4465 Hp : + 65 9799 0904 Email : [email protected] ______

About International Enterprise Singapore

International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry spearheading the development of Singapore’s external economic wing.

Our mission is to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade. With a global network in over 30 locations and our 3C framework of assistance – Connections, Competency, Capital, we offer services to help enterprises export, develop business capabilities, find overseas partners and enter new markets. At the same time, we work to position Singapore as a base for foreign businesses to expand into the region in partnership with Singapore-based companies. Please visit www.iesingapore.com for more information.

2 Source: Tatarstan 2010 – New Stage of Development.

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ANNEX

Details on the four MOUs signed in August 2010

1) Educare International Consultancy Private Limited and Tatarstan Ministry of Education and Science signed an MOU to explore collaboration possibilities to develop joint projects in the area of education consultancy and professional development of in-service teachers and school leaders, as well as ICT for teaching and learning.

2) Marshall Cavendish International Singapore Pte Ltd and Tatarstan Ministry of Education and Science signed two MOUs to explore and cooperate in the joint development, testing and implementation of new teaching materials for Tatarstan’s education system.

3) ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) and Tatarstan Ministry of Education and Science signed an MOU to explore the implementation of the latest education technologies and the concept of FutureSchools in Tatarstan’s schools.

Said Mr Jeremy Foo, Senior Vice President/General Manager from ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) Pte Ltd, “The FutureSchools will offer Tatarstan an innovative approach to transform its education system. We believe that this will equip schools with solutions that are both engaging and educational to the benefit of generations of young students in Tatarstan.”

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