1. Good evening everyone. Thank you for inviting me to this month’s Trade Winds event.

 

2. Allow me to sketch out broadly where Singapore is and how we are going about our trade and engagement. In terms of the broad strategies. First, to state the obvious but essential, we are in turbulent times. Our attention globally has been absorbed by an array of challenges, from inflation and high energy prices to supply chain disruptions. While there is a silver lining and some relief from the post-pandemic recovery, there has also been increasing pushback against open trade and globalisation.  We are seeing major economies adopting protectionist measures in an attempt to preserve their national interests.

 

Sustaining and strengthening key multilateral institutions

 

3. These challenges are global and highly interconnected.  They cannot be addressed by countries turning inwards nor acting individually. It is essential that Governments resist ‘quick fixes’, such as trade tariff increases, which may yield short term political benefits at the expense of profound long term harm to trade and economic growth.

 

4. Especially, in these challenging times, the global community must redouble efforts to steward and grow the global commons. In particular, we should reinforce key multilateral institutions, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is crucial in enabling a rules-based trading system that we believe will benefit all countries.

 

5. Geneva Package adopted recently at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, covered pandemic relief, as well as agreements on digital trading and fishery subsidies. It is a testament to the merit of working together in overcoming global challenges.

 

6. However, we can do more to strengthen the WTO and it is also important that we ensure that it remains relevant to addressing 21st century issues. Notwithstanding the diversity of interests amongst the WTO membership. One potential pathway is through plurilateral initiatives, such as the Joint Statement Initiatives and Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions, which have had good support from the Membership of the WTO. We will continue from Singapore to be a supporter of such efforts that could serve as stepping-stones towards eventual multilateral outcomes.

 

Deepening trade and economic engagements

 

7. Beyond the WTO, countries should work together to deepen economic and trade engagements at all levels.  Trade agreements, such as the CPTPP and RCEP, as well as the recently launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), are examples of regional initiatives that can complement and promote multilateral cooperation. We have and will continue to support these regional initiatives, which are in line with our longstanding commitment to an open, inclusive, and rules-based global order.

 

8. We also think that these initiatives can pave the way for new and creative ideas.  Under the IPEF Pillar 3 is a forward-looking initiative that has the potential to significantly deepen US economic engagement with our region on clean energy and decarbonization – which can help members achieve their climate goals and also grow the green economy.

 

New Frontiers of Trade

 

9. Apart from the multilateral and plurilateral, there are two new and important frontiers. Which we should be focused on. The first is digitalisation. Clearly digital connectivity, is the 20th century analog of trade and physical trade connectivity. Every effort that we can undertake in that regard, for the moment bits and bytes across border are going to be critical.

 

10. As you might be aware, we have embarked on Digital Economy Agreements. We have the DEPA with New Zealand and Chile. China, Korea and Canada have also applied. We also have bilateral DEAs with Australia, UK and South Korea.  We have initiated discussions with the EU and doing so with more partners. This is part of that matrix of plurilateral initiatives that have come together to create a larger multilateral outcome.

 

11. The other driver is sustainability.  Given that climate change is an existential threat, our reference to find  sustainable solutions and to decarbonize industries will also yield interesting  opportunities for both businesses and our people.

 

12. We are working on Green Economy Agreements (GEAs) as well as a parallel track to establish rules and standards not found in traditional FTAs, such as non-tariff barriers on environmental goods and services.  We do hope that such bilateral and multilateral initiatives will accelerate countries’ transitions towards a green and sustainable future.

 

Conclusion

 

13. I have briefly outlined what we are doing and how we are going about it, we are focused at the multilateral level, we do believe that we need to have the foundation as the basis on which we push forward our trade agenda. We are also working on series of plurilateral initiatives as I have outlined and we have got the new frontiers in digital and green that yield significant possibilities for the future. We are looking forward to working with like-minded partners many of whom are on this panel and I am sure in the audience as well. So that we can take this agenda forward and set a constructive pathway for trade and economic engagement globally.

 

14. Thank you and I look forward to our discussion.