Interest in N.Z. ‘high’ in Singapore

Press, 30 April 1982, Page 12

Interest in N.Z. ‘high’ in Singapore

NZPA staff correspondent Hong Kong Interest in New Zealand among Singapore investors is high, according to the Associate Minister of Finance (Mr Falloon). Speaking by telephone from Manila, where he was attending the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, Mr Falloon said that he had met a number of bankers and other financiers during a four-day visit to Singapore. He had called on Singapore’s Finance Minister, Mr Sui Sen, and had also met members of the Ho family, who have invested in the hotel industry in New Zealand.

Mr Falloon said that he believed prospects for Singaporean investment in New

Zealand existed mainly in the private sector. Financing needs had not been discussed during his meeting with officials of the Singapore Investment Corporation, which is responsible for managing that country’s official reserves. In his talks, he had spoken of the possible advantages to Singapore investors of a closer economic relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “About half of our manufactured exports go to Australia and a C.E.R. could have quite wide-ranging benefits for investors in New Zealand,” Mr Falloon said. A number of people in Singapore had emphasised the possibilities for using Singapore as a doorway- to the Chinese market.