Opening Remarks By Mr Ravi Menon, Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry Of Trade And Industry At Apec Star Vii Conference, Grand Copthorne Hotel, 30 July 2009

Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Education,

Distinguished guests, friends, and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning and a warm welcome to our guests from abroad.

Trade is the lifeblood for most of our economies.And the supply chains through which trade flows are the critical arteries in the system.Any disruption along these arteries will have very damaging effects on trade and on our economies.Ensuring the security of our trade flows is an important part of our larger efforts in APEC to facilitate trade along all dimensions.

This year, APEC is taking a more comprehensive approach to trade facilitation, focusing on integration not just “at the border”, but also “behind the border” and “across the border”.

We are all familiar with integration “at the border”.It has to do with reducing tariffs and making Rules of Origin more business-friendly.But there has been a growing realisation within APEC, in large part shaped by business feedback and empirical research, that the key barriers to cross-border economic activity lie “behind the border” – namely regulations that affect business operations – and “across the border” – namely, chokepoints in supply chain connectivity.

Smooth supply chains are key enablers of trade.But supply chains are only as good as their weakest links.Officials have therefore been working with businesses and academics to identify the chokepoints in regional supply chains, so as to focus reform efforts.And we all know that the biggest potential chokepoint is a terrorist attack that compromises the security of these supply chains.

This is why this 7th Secure Trade in the APEC Region (or STAR) Conference is important.It brings together not just officials from the relevant Customs and security agencies, but also experts from the logistics and supply chain industries. We need to pool our ideas on how to better coordinate efforts to improve security in our trading processes.

Singapore is particularly pleased to be the host for STAR VII. Since 2006, Singapore has taken a strong interest in promoting secure trade practices within the public and private sectors. We hosted an APEC Total Supply Chain Security Symposium in 2006 and commissioned a study, to analyse the potential disruption to the international supply chain in the event of a terrorist attack.

The study highlighted the need for APEC economies to consider developing a trade recovery programme. The purpose of such a programme is to help expedite the resumption of trade in the event of a terrorist attack so as to minimise its economic impact. In 2007, ten like-minded APEC economies drafted the APEC Trade Recovery Programme Guidelines.

In April this year, we put these Guidelines to the test.We conducted a ten-day exercise, during which seven APEC economies - Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, United States, Vietnam and Singapore - simulated what might happen in a terrorist attack that affects regional supply chains and how we should collectively respond to minimise disruption to trade during such an attack. It was a useful trial run. I understand the findings of the Trade Recovery Programme, or TRP, Pilot Exercise and lessons learnt will be discussed later in this conference.

The TRP offers a win-win outcome, achieving the objectives of ensuring security as well as facilitating trade.In the event of a terrorist attack, TRP allows us to react swiftly to restore security in a co-ordinated and transparent manner that inspires confidence, so as to efficiently resume the flow of trade and minimise the economic impact of such an attack.

The organisers of the conference have laid out a comprehensive programme. I wish you fruitful conversations and frank exchange of views, to learn from one another and to further our efforts to promote international trade and commerce in a safe and secure environment.

 Thank you.