S'pore's Lee candid in China

S'pore's Lee candid in China

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew has urged Chinese officials to be more transparent with their policies to hasten the entry of more investments in the country, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Lee, who is on a 12-day visit to China, made the candid remarks in a speech to officials at Suzhou, the site of a Singapore-developed industrial park near Shanghai, China.

"It is important to help them (investors). Your methods, systems, should be consistent, transparent, and your policies must be predictable," Lee was quoted as saying by the Business Times.

The report quoted Lee as citing China's import tax on capital goods to emphasize the need for consistent policies. "From next year I have been told (the tax concession) would be restored. So (in) a period of less than one year, you turn left, you turn right," Lee said.