SINGAPORE, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said Monday at the inaugural Russia-Singapore Business Forum that Russia needs the climate that encourages entrepreneurship among young people.

    "What is lacking is the climate that encourages young people toventure into business and the facilities, the supporting structures that would enable people with bright ideas to get capital to try them out," Lee was quoted as saying by Channel News Asia report.

    Noting that Russia is going to be a considerable power in 20 or30 years, Lee said that Singapore should overcome difficulties, such as the ignorance of the Russian language and culture, to enhance its cooperation with Russia especially in areas of training and capacity building.

    To meet the growing demand from Singapore-based companies whichare interested in Russia, the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, a government agency helping local companies internationalize, will open a full-fledged office in the Russian capital of Moscow by May this year.

    "Like the other overseas offices in IE's global network, our Moscow center will help to provide timely market intelligence and on-the-ground support. We can also introduce new entrants to Singapore-based companies already in Russia, who would be happy toshare their advice," Chairwoman of IE Singapore Euleen Goh announced at the forum.

    About 250 businessmen from the two countries participated in the one-day meeting, which aimed to help them better understand the business potential and opportunities in each other's countries.

    The forum was co-organized by IE Singapore, the Singapore Embassy in Moscow and Russia's largest private investment company Troika Dialog.

    Trade between Singapore and Russia has increased by over 50 percent from 879 million Singapore dollars (about 543 million U.S.dollars) to 1.32 billion Singapore dollars (about 815 million U.S.dollars) during the past three years. Enditem