KEYNOTE SPEECH BY MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY CHAN CHUN SING AT THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (BRITCHAM) 19TH ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS ON THURSDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2018 AT TOWER BALLROOM, SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
His Excellency Scott Wightman,
British
High Commissioner to Singapore
Dr Bicky Bhangu,
President of the British Chamber of Commerce
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. A very good evening to all of you and a warm welcome to all the guests
from the UK who have joined us this evening.
2. Thank you for inviting me to the 19th Annual Business Awards.
3. We celebrate tonight
the outstanding and innovative achievements of British and Singaporean
companies across a wide range of industries. Tonight’s finalists include
multinational firms such as BP, Rolls-Royce, and Dyson. It also includes startups
like Rebel & Soul and Upstart Alliance rapidly making an impact in their
respective fields. My congratulations to everyone.
Shared Challenges, Opportunities and Values
4. I was wondering what would be a suitable topic for this evening’s sharing. It was not difficult to choose a topic that is closest to the hearts of many of you present in the audience this evening. I guess the topic must be the 29th of March 2019, 2300GMT. The moment in history that we are all holding our breath.
5. Now, some commentators have attempted to draw
parallels between Singapore on the 9th of August 1965 and the United
Kingdom on 30th of March 2019. They
suggested that UK could follow Singapore’s example – break free and live
happily ever after.
6. I am not sure either “break
free” or “live happily ever after” would be a correct and appropriate
characterisation of events for Singapore.
7. Neither am I under the
illusion that Singapore 1965 should or could be compared with UK 2019.
8. I have no crystal ball. I
have no better idea than you how the road to Brexit will happen.
9. So, I thought it will be more
useful for us to imagine and focus our attention on the challenges and actions
beyond 30th March 2019 - “the day after”, regardless of how Brexit may come about, and if Brexit
may come about at all. I will make six
propositions this evening, as part of my sharing.
10. First, after 29th of March 2019, we will continue to live in
a globalised world with an interconnected production and value chain.
Despite
the headwinds of anti-globalisation worldwide, globalisation is here to stay. But
perhaps in a different form, one that is progressing with the times. It will be
hard to imagine, for us to go back to a world where complex products can ever
be made in a single country alone. In all those labels that you find in your
products, “Made in XX country” is more likely to be untrue in today’s world.
Just walk down the aisle of any retail joint – you will be hard pressed to find
a product that is made entirely in any one single country.
11. Take the smart
phone. I don’t think any country can make it all alone. Two years ago, MIT
Technology Review did a study. What if any country, including the US, tries to
onshore all of the iPhone’s production? They concluded that the new price will
be higher. Even then, they concluded
that no country has all the components that are necessary to produce this
product. And if that particularly country is to look for substitutes to all the
necessary components, the price of that new iPhone would have gone up quite a
few times than what it is today. This just goes to show how interconnected our
value chain is today. My belief, for the first proposition, is that on 30th
of March 2019, come what may, we will continue to live in a globalised world
with an integrated value chain.
12. Now I come to my second value proposition. If globalisation is ever
destroyed, and we are back to a mercantilist society, where every one of us is
just producing for ourselves, everyone will be worse off. So if
globalisation is to be stopped, all of us will be worse off. Hence, it is in our common interest to defend and
uphold globalisation. The UK and Singapore share this interest more than ever
before. As like-minded partners, we need to stand together to defend, define
and evolve the new global standards for trade and commerce.
13. Singapore is staying open for business
and Singapore will continue to stay open for business. We will not and cannot
fall to the isolation impulse. Connectivity, to Singapore without a hinterland
and a natural market access, is not an option.
It is survival.
14. We will continue
to pursue open and rules-based access to more markets for our companies, and
this is the reason why my Ministry is working so hard to bring about new generations
of free trade agreements - bilaterally, multilaterally and across the world, to
create those valuable opportunities that we so need for our companies.
15. You name it, we
are working on it. CPTPP – we have signed it, ratified it, we hope that it will
come into force in the early part of 2019. RCEP – we are at a critical stage of
negotiation and we try to achieve substantial progress by the end of this year.
And next month, if all goes well, we will sign the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
and the EUSIPA.
16. And I believe
that the UK will share the same beliefs and take the same actions as Singapore,
to defend, define and evolve the global trading system and standards. Perhaps,
with Brexit looming on the horizon, the UK will work even harder to bring this
about. Not being part of the European Union does not mean that the UK will stop
trading or working with Europe. Paradoxically, the UK not being a part of the European
Union, must lead to a renewed commitment to stay engaged with the global
production and financial systems. As some members of the UK government will say,
the aim of the UK is to be Global Britain and not just Great Britain.
17. Third, you had heard me saying that we must “evolve and deliver” a new
global standard. That’s because today’s connectivity and trade is no longer just
about air, land and sea connectivity. Today’s trade is not just about trading
in goods and services as we define it conventionally.
18. From Singapore’s
perspective, we see connectivity beyond these three physical dimensions. Trade must
also encompass the new, non-physical dimensions of connectivity, including
data, finance, talent and technology.
19. The WTO’s system
must continue to evolve and meet these new challenges and create new platforms
for us to seize such new opportunities in how we connect our economies with
each other. It will require us to develop new global governance standards for
trade and connectivity and I’m sure Global Britain and Singapore will share
this common interest more than ever before.
20. Trade and
finance are our lifeline and have been in our lifeblood since time immemorial. UK
and Singapore will know it and appreciate it more than many others. So we will
need new rules for how we transact data, finance, and how we protect
intellectual property and so forth.
21. Talent and idea
flows will be essential for a well-functioning global system. Talent mobility will bring with it inevitable
social integration issues that must be sensitively managed. And that brings me
to my fourth proposition.
22. Globalisation will require all states to redistribute the net gains from
trade and to help our people to adjust to the shifts in the global production
chain that are integrated. There will be net winners and net losers in a
country and we will need to find ways to re-distribute some of these gains and
find ways to help those who have been losing out relatively or have been losing
out absolutely to make the adjustments to catch up with the rest of the pack. All this will require political will and capability
on the part of the government. Failing which, there will be the inevitable
local backlash, leading to global consequences.
23. As the saying
goes, all politics are local. Unless and until we address some of these local
issues, it may cause spillover effects onto the global stage.
24. However, the
solution to uneven gains from globalisation is not to move away from
globalisation. The solution is not to isolate ourselves from the rest of the
global production system. The solution must be to work hard to help our
businesses and our people adjust to the new realities. To acknowledge that, to
find solutions together and to work on it. It is the same for the UK and
Singapore.
25. Globalisation
brings forth new challenges. Managing the problem of the unequally rich is just
as important and tricky as managing the problem of the equally poor. But we
have a choice.
26. Fifth, beyond globalisation, we will still have to solve our common
challenges for modern humanity. Key to this will be
urban society management. The world is urbanising rapidly. It will bring forth
new challenges and new opportunities. If done well, urban society is the most
optimal way to organise people living together, to organise the exchange of
ideas through a dense and compact network and to be more efficient by sharing
resources with rural societies. Having said that, all urban societies face the
challenges of managing our energy consumption, pollution, water management,
social integration of multi-ethnic societies, health and transport.
27. All these are
complex, yet common issues that confront all of us. And these are precisely the
opportunities that the UK and Singapore can work together, share ideas, if not,
at least to commiserate together.
28. Our companies
can come together to create new products and services and I’ve just seen some
great examples of how this is being done right before our eyes. The delegation
that just arrived in Singapore from Wales has been looking around for
opportunities to bridge the two economic entities to find common opportunities,
to solve our common challenges and that’s great news for all of us. That just
goes to show that the greater the integration we would like to see in the
global economy, the harder we need to work to bring different economic entities
together.
29. While the UK and
Singapore may be separated by physical distance, it should not deter us from
looking for opportunities to work together. Not just bilaterally between the UK
and Singapore, but more importantly, to use each other as a platform, as a
Launchpad, as a gateway to the larger markets around us.
30. Singapore has
always looked to the UK, not just as a market but as a platform to reach out to
the wider European community and even North Africa. And I’m sure, the UK
companies that are in Singapore today are not just servicing the Singapore
market. Many of you have shared with me, how you use Singapore as a platform to
service the regional economies and that is how we have connected with each
other across the years, decades and even centuries.
31. The UK’s
presence in Southeast Asia dates back to more than 200 years ago. Next year, we
will celebrate and commemorate the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford
Raffles. The strong presence of UK in this part of the world has been built up
by the blood, sweat and tears of the generations before us. It will be a pity
if the UK no longer engages Southeast Asia beyond the moment of distraction.
But I am confident that whatever happens on 29 March 2019, I’m confident that
the UK will continue to stay engaged in this region. And that’s where members
of the audience have such an important role to play.
32. You are all
leaders in the industries, and you are the movers and shakers of the business
world. Your decisions will speak volumes of how the UK wants to and desires to
remain engaged in this part of the world. And with your participation, I have
every confidence that the ties between the UK and Singapore will continue to
grow from strength to strength.
Conclusion
33. So let me say once again. I
understand and I appreciate everyone’s concerns in the room on the events
leading up to Brexit, if it comes about. But perhaps more important than
thinking about the journey to Brexit, is to focus our attention on the day
after Brexit. The actions that we need to take together, the challenges that we
will face together, but more importantly, the values that we all stand for
together.
34. And if we can focus on our
commonalities, our common challenges, finding opportunities to forge new
partnerships, then I have every confidence that we will continue as partners to
uphold the values and systems that define the global standards of trade and
commerce that have benefitted us all these years.
35. Singapore and the UK do not
just have a shared history, values and system. We have a shared destiny in
upholding and evolving an open, rules-based global system for our individual
and collective good.
36. Singapore remains committed to deepening our relationship with the UK regardless of what happens on the 30th of March 2019. Thank you very much and have an enjoyable evening.