Mr Michael Wilkinson
Chief Executive Officer - Asia Developments
Macquarie Global Property Advisors

Mr Simon Treacy
Chief Executive Officer - Asia Investments
Macquarie Global Property Advisors

Mrs Cheong Koon Hean
Chief Executive Officer
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1 Good afternoon. I am pleased to be here today to witness the Marina View South Tower Building Agreement signing ceremony.

2 May I first begin by congratulating Macquarie Global Property Advisors for winning the tenders for both Marina View Land Parcel A and Marina View Land Parcel B. This Marina View project – comprising Land Parcels A & B – also marks MGPA’s first successful participation in the Government land sales programme in Singapore.

3 MGPA’s participation is a demonstration of the growing interest from foreign real estate investors in Singapore. Investors have found Singapore to be attractive, and foreign direct investment has in fact more than doubled from S$6.7 billion in 2006 to about S$14 billion in 2007.

New Growth Area in Marina Bay

4 The Government is committed to supply adequate land for the development of prime offices required by the financial and business services sector. We have plans to more than double the size of our financial district as part of our strategy to position ourselves as one of Asia’s leading financial centres. This new growth area at Marina Bay will be more than twice the size of London’s Canary Wharf. It will provide some 2.82 million sq m of office space, equivalent to the amount of office space in Hong Kong’s main business district at Central. The pace of growth to its eventual size will, of course, depend on actual demand.

5. Size apart, Marina Bay will have other competitive advantages. The new financial district in Marina Bay will be a seamless extension of the existing financial district at Raffles Place, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar to provide the needed space for our fast growing business and financial services sector.

6. The area has also been master-planned with pedestrian connectivity in mind. There will be a 3.5km waterfront promenade that links up major attractions and open spaces around the Bay, covered walkways at ground level, and an extensive underground pedestrian network that links the developments to the MRT stations. The promenade is envisaged to have spaces for events and activities, with shady retreats and lush planting to provide a signature image for the area. There could also be different levels and steps to bring people down closer to the water’s edge.

7. The Government has invested heavily in infrastructure to support the area, such as a Common Services Tunnel network housing electrical, data and telecommunications cables, as well as district cooling pipes, NEWater and potable water pipes.

8. All in all, Marina Bay will be a great place to work, with a vibrant live-work-play environment, great transport accessibility and shopping, dining and other amenities close at hand.

Marina View

9. Today, I am glad to witness the signing ceremony of the Marina View site, as it represents another important chapter in the Marina Bay growth story and the transformation of Singapore’s business and financial district.

10. The two Marina View sites are strategically located within the Marina Bay area, next to the existing Central Business District at Raffles Place and close to other prime office developments such as One Raffles Quay and Marina Bay Financial Centre. Together, these developments would form the nucleus of the new office developments within Marina Bay.

11. By winning the tenders for both sites, MGPA is well-positioned to develop an integrated high-quality office complex with supporting amenities that will meet the needs of leading business and financial institutions. When completed in 2011/2012, MGPA’s Marina View development will yield about 200,000 sq m of office facilities. It will add to the critical mass of prime office space in our CBD and offer more location choices for business and financial services which want to grow or relocate operations to Singapore.

12. MGPA’s development will also be unique as it will be the first office complex in Marina Bay to be integrated with a luxury hotel consisting of at least 220 rooms. Together with the other retail and food and beverage outlets that will be provided within the office complex, the Marina View development will reinforce our vision to make our city centre a lively 24/7 pulsating hub not just for business but also for play.

Conclusion

13. I congratulate MGPA for winning the tender for the Marina View sites and look forward to the new development which will take Singapore one step closer to becoming one of Asia’s leading financial centres, and an exciting and vibrant city centre that will comparable to the world’s finest cities.

Thank you.

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