Lee Seen Spending $8 Billion on Ports as Support Falls: Freight

Singapore plans to almost double its container port capacity after Shanghai overtook the nation to become the world’s busiest harbor, part of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s push for an economic and popular revival.

The plan may spur yearly growth of 5 percent and port building costs could top S$10 billion ($8 billion), said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore. The government is spending at least S$8.8 million this fiscal year on the project, which involves moving terminals to free 1,000 hectares for development and building a larger facility at Tuas in the southwest.