Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's Attendance at the 7th ASEAN-United States Summit, Bangkok, Thailand, 4 November 2019

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan attended the 7^th ASEAN-United States (US) Summit on 4 November 2019 in Bangkok.

Minister Balakrishnan welcomed the US’ longstanding contributions to regional peace and stability, and support for a rules-based international order underpinned by international law. He expressed appreciation for the US’ consistent support for ASEAN unity and Centrality. Noting that ASEAN and the US share a long-term strategic interest in staying closely engaged with each other, Minister Balakrishnan welcomed efforts by the US to deepen and sustain its engagement of ASEAN and the region.

Minister Balakrishnan underscored ASEAN’s substantive and multifaceted cooperation with the US, including in emerging areas like smart cities and cybersecurity. He encouraged Singapore and the US to continue working together to strengthen the region’s cyber capacity and resilience, including through the recently launched ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence. He also highlighted opportunities to do more through the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, as a means for the US to deepen its economic engagement of the region.

Minister Balakrishnan highlighted the region’s need for infrastructural development on a massive scale in the next few decades, and welcomed the US’ newly launched Blue Dot Network initiative which seeks to raise standards for infrastructure projects around the world, including the mobilisation of private sector capital. He added that Singapore looked forward to the US sharing more details on the concept and implementation mechanisms.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

4 NOVEMBER 2019