"
ILLINGS: In fact some have already left Hongkong and are
setting up in Singapore?
MINISTER: Some of them are in Singapore, others in Canada, in Australia, in Malaysia and in all kinds of different places.
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Our belief is that
that come 1997, when businessmen see that Hongkong is still around, many will go back.
BILLINGS: What sort of shipping community do you have?
MINISTER: We have a whole range of ships on our register. But we are not very big. We are only number 13 on the world league. We have a total of 8 million tonnes, 8 million GLT registered with the Singapore Flag.
BILLINGS: Is that a number that is growing?
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MINISTER: Its growing slowly. We are attracting enquiries from a number of different countries from Hongkong quite obviously, from Japan, Europe and USA. We have just introduced some incentives last year,
last year, where we are giving tax exemption on the profits generated by a shipping company registered in Singapore, provided it has 10 per cent of its ships under the Singapore flag. In other words, if it has got anything up to 90 per cent of its ships registered elsewhere, its profits will be tax exempt, provided it registered 10 per cent of its ships with us.
BILLINGS: Is that a sweetner that is beginning to work?
MINISTER: We think its beginning to work. We ar getting a fair number of enquiries. There are also a number of very attractive features. We are party to all the maritime conventions on pollution, on safety, on training, on certification and on watchkeeping. We also have a very high level of safety. Indeed the safety records for ships under our flag is about three times better