Chapter 357: The No. 1 Fund Shares in Short Supply and the Boss’s Request for a Meeting
Li Xiaofan confirmed: "Well, is there an independent R&D building? It doesn't matter if it's smaller, we need a private R&D space..."
Lin Muchu thought for a while and said: "Currently, there is no such independent R&D building in the first phase of the Singapore Science Park project. However, there is an independent three-story R&D building space, just like a townhouse. This three-story independent space has its own door and a separate elevator and door. The total area of the three floors is about 5,000 square meters. Does this meet your requirements?"
Lin Muchu continued: "Mr. Li, we originally reserved this space to attract a world-class high-tech R&D project..."
Her implication was, Li Xiaofan, is your project qualified?
Li Xiaofan smiled and said, "This time I am going to invest in building a world-class magnetic sensor chip R&D center project!"
As he spoke, Li Xiaofan handed her a project plan and continued:
"This time, our Yifan Company, together with our venture capital fund, plans to invest in building a world-class magnetic sensor chip and media R&D center in your Singapore Science Park. The team leader of the project is a senior R&D director from a Fortune 500 company. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a reviewer of IEEE in applied physics, applied physics information, and magnetism, a member of the IEEE Technical Committee, and a world-renowned magnetic expert. Our R&D center is benchmarked against a world-renowned Well-known IBM and Seagate. How about this project, is it qualified to be settled in? "
Lin Muqiu glanced at Li Xiaofan's project plan and said excitedly:
"What a good project! Mr. Li, this project will be reported to our group and the Singapore Science Council later. I think they will be excited to see it. If our group and the Singapore Science Council agree, I suggest that this project can also apply for project introduction subsidies from government departments such as the Singapore Economic Development Board!"
"Okay, thank you very much, thank you for your trouble!"
The Singapore Science Park was established in 1984. It is managed by the Singapore Science Council on the surface, but the specific operations are handled by the Ascendas Group under the Jurong Town Industrial Authority.
The Singapore Science Council plays a similar role as a "matchmaker" in coordinating scientific research projects settled in the Singapore Science Park and initiating the establishment of scientific research and development joint ventures. The Singapore Science Council often organizes various seminars, academic conferences, symposiums and exchange visits in the park, various channels for sharing resources and equipment, and various social and entertainment activities.
In terms of division of labor, it is equivalent to the Ascendas Group being responsible for the hardware construction of the park, and the Singapore Science Council being responsible for the soft environment construction of the park.
Some official agencies of the Singapore government, such as the Singapore Standards and Industrial Research Institute, the Singapore National Computer Board, the Jurong Town Industrial Authority and the University of Singapore, have actively assisted the Science Council in the management and development of the Singapore Science Park.
Therefore, the highest decision-making body in Singapore Science Park is the Singapore Science Council in theory.
For general projects, the Ascendas Group is responsible for reporting to the Singapore Science Council for approval. For large and influential projects, they need to be submitted to the Singapore Science Council for discussion and decision-making.
…
After Li Xiaofan returned to Singapore, Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Star Cruises of Genting Group, Guo Lingyu of Hong Leong Group of Singapore, and several entrepreneurs of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce lined up to meet with Li Xiaofan. There was only one topic: Singapore Yifan Venture Capital Fund.
After intensive consultations, Li Xiaofan finally finalized the share of the newly launched Singapore Yifan Venture Capital Fund No. 1:
The total scale of the No. 1 Fund is US$100 million. Singapore Yifan Investment Management Pte. Ltd. serves as the general partner GP, and Wang Danrong serves as the fund manager of the first phase of Yifan No. 1 Venture Capital Fund.
Among them, Malaysia's Genting Group invested 20 million US dollars, Singapore's Hong Leong Group invested 20 million US dollars, Li Xiaofan's Yifan Investment invested 20 million US dollars, Mr. Tang's Singapore Minghua Holdings invested 10 million US dollars, and the remaining 30 million US dollars were divided by six member entrepreneurs of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, each contributing 5 million US dollars.
Li Xiaofan set up the first phase of Yifan Venture Capital Fund in Singapore for many reasons.
For a long time, Singapore has been a financial haven for wealthy businessmen in Southeast Asia and has a good financial service foundation.
In particular, after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the Singapore government began to promote the development of offshore private banking business.
The so-called "offshore" means that the investor's company is registered in an offshore jurisdiction, but the investor does not need to be there in person, and its business operations can be carried out directly anywhere in the world, providing objective conditions for Singapore to become a financial center favored by the world's wealthy.
In addition, the Asia-Pacific regional headquarters of many top financial institutions in the world are located here, which greatly increases the attractiveness of Singapore's private banking business.
In the past, as the wealth of the world's rich rose, when emerging markets such as mainland China began to popularize the concept of "big asset management era", Singapore had already successfully positioned itself in advance under this trend, developing from an Asian dollar center to an offshore wealth management center. In the past, in 2013, the scale of assets under management of Singapore's financial institutions reached 1 trillion Singapore dollars, second only to Switzerland, and was called the "Switzerland of the East".
In the late 1970s, Singapore faced a shortage of resources and formulated a "financial nation" strategy, becoming one of the three major financial centers in Asia, along with Tokyo and Hong Kong, China.
Singapore has a special dual-coast financial center system, which establishes a separate international financial center by issuing full licenses, restricted licenses, and offshore licenses.
Moreover, Singapore's special tax system is very attractive to international funds and wealthy investment immigrants.
Singapore's tax rate is relatively low, and corporate income tax and personal income tax are very attractive to the rich. The most important thing is that there is no inheritance tax!
Moreover, the Singapore government exempts Singapore citizens and PR permanent residents from tax on their income outside Singapore.
In order to attract wealth from all over the world, Singapore has taken a series of measures to cater to the needs of the rich, such as developing super luxury apartments equipped with private yacht docks in areas such as Sentosa Island that can be purchased by foreign citizens.
In the past, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) once listed Singapore, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and other countries on the "tax haven" blacklist...
After Li Xiaofan determined the share of Singapore's No. 1 Yifan Venture Capital Fund, many entrepreneurs who were members of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and were unable to participate in the investment of this fund still complained.
Li Xiaofan had to call them one by one to explain and comfort them, telling them that after the first phase of the fund was invested, the establishment of the No. 2 Yifan Venture Capital Fund would be started immediately.
Li Xiaofan had just finished a round of phone calls and sat down to rest, and his secretary Liang Beni came in to report:
"Mr. Li, just now the secretaries of the bosses of Singapore Far East Organization and Singapore United Overseas Bank Group called, and their bosses want to make an appointment with you..."