WASHINGTON, DC — Singapore is seeking to attract a new wave of American investment, visiting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told United States business leaders, adding that one area where both countries can work together is in the Republic’s push to become a Smart Nation.

“America is one of the leaders in this new economy based on innovation, collaboration and critical thinking ... As Singapore continues our next phase of development, we still welcome US companies to come and invest in Singapore,” Mr Lee said in an address to some 200 business and industry leaders at a reception hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce and US-Asean (Association of South-east Asian Nations) Business Council on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning, Singapore time) on the second day of his official visit to the US.

As part of the development of a Smart Nation, Singapore is introducing coding in secondary schools and helping to nurture start-ups in areas such as financial technology (fintech), social media and e-commerce, Mr Lee said.

“We welcome American companies to continue helping us with our transformation, and to take advantage of the many opportunities and the talent in Singapore,” he added, noting that US businesses have played a major role in Singapore’s economic development since independence.

“You have invested heavily in Singapore — developing infrastructure, creating jobs, transferring technology and management practices,” he said, citing the examples of how General Electric was once the largest employer in Singapore and the Seagate facility in the Republic once made the majority of the world’s hard disk drives.

More recently, production company Lucasfilm opened its regional headquarters building in Singapore. The Sandcrawler is its first purpose-built facility outside the US, noted Mr Lee. These companies have found Singapore to be a good springboard into the region, he added.

On Singapore-US economic ties, Mr Lee said that companies from both countries have taken advantage of the 2004 US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. In 2014, US foreign direct investment to Singapore was valued at S$152.7 billion, making the Republic the largest investment host of the US in Asia.

Similarly, in that year, Singapore was the single largest Asean investor in the US, with direct investment to America valued at S$12.2 billion.

On the sidelines of the reception, both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster greater collaboration and promote technology partnerships between American and Singaporean companies in third-party markets.

A Singapore-US Collaboration Platform will be established to focus on opportunities in the infrastructure sector, which includes smart-city solutions as well as digital infrastructure that support the e-commerce and fintech sectors.