Transcript of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's Doorstop Interview with Singapore Media in Vientiane, Laos, 27 January 2024

Tan Hui Yee (Straits Times): What lessons have we learned from the existing cooperation between Laos and Singapore on renewable energy, and how do we plan to expand this cooperation?

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan: Let me take a step back. First, I am happy to be back in Laos. I have been coming here since 2009 when I used to be the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. Then, of course, a couple more times since I have been in Foreign Affairs.

This visit is because we are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties with Laos. Secondly, they are also the Chair of ASEAN this year.I thought it would be an opportune time to catch up, to review our bilateral relationship and also to plot the direction, trajectory, the way forward.

This has been 50 years of an excellent relationship. We are both considered small countries, but that is in terms of population size. If you look in terms of land area, Laos has a land area the size of the United Kingdom, but with a relatively small population. I also mentioned the fact that if you take a look back over 70 years, unfortunately, they were also entangled in the war in Indochina. Therefore, they had a later start at nation-building, in particular, in getting the economy going. We should recognise that they have had significant headwinds, especially in the early years of the nation, but they have since opened up, particularly in the 1990s.

Today, when we survey the bilateral relationship between Laos and Singapore, I would say, it is diplomatically excellent. Economically, they are not yet maximising the opportunities and the potential which Laos has. If you look at the totality of the Laotian economy, the truth is, especially in the last few years, COVID-19 had significant damage to their tourism industry. They have also been quite open and candid that their fiscal circumstances have also been quite tight. Yet, they do want to move forward, and they want to look at the opportunities. I have had extensive discussions with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and other senior officials here.

We are now at the start of another technological revolution characterised by advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, digitalisation, synthetic biology, and the need for renewable energy to create a more sustainable and safer world. In an ironic sense, this kind of world also presents new major opportunities for Laos.

The reason for that is, first, Laos has got plentiful supplies of green, renewable energy, especially hydropower. The second big advantage they have is carbon credits. As the world moves and tries to achieve a genuinely zero emissions target in 2050, you are going to need the resources and the availability of what Laos has to offer, particularly in the carbon credit trading space.

A third area which has also emerged as an opportunity for Laos is the emerging area of rare earths which they have also found significant deposits of, and as you know, rare earths are critical minerals which are needed for electronics, AI and electric vehicles. That is another natural resource they have.

The fourth advantage they have is that they are net food exporters. If you project forward a world facing climate change, floods, droughts, and potentially food crises in the future, a place like this, with plentiful land and fertile land, if they can step up their agricultural productivity, they can certainly be another major source of food, and contribute to food security in ASEAN as well. Clearly from a Singapore perspective, we need energy, carbon credits, food, and access to technologically sophisticated supply chains. There is great potential.

Now, we examine what we have done so far. One case in point is the import of renewable, green electricity. I would say that project has been a very useful pathfinder. First, it showed that it is technically possible. Second, it also illustrates that Laos is landlocked, and in order for its exports to reach beyond its immediate neighbourhood, it needs to make the necessary arrangements with its neighbours to create win-win economic arrangements. This is something where I think ASEAN can come in. So for instance, if you are going to have significant export of electricity from Laos, which has the potential to be the dynamo of ASEAN, you need an ASEAN grid. You need to set up not just the physical infrastructure but the policy and legislative frameworks cross-border and preferably ASEAN-wide, in order to enable the sustainable and win-win commercial arrangements for these sort of exports to occur.

Similarly, for carbon credits, we have to ensure that the carbon credit markets of the future are compliant with Article Six of the Paris Agreement. That is another area where we can work closely together with them to enable them to be able to export carbon credits. Similarly, in terms of the new technologies of the future, whether you are talking about batteries and new electronics, or data centres, these are areas where I believe they would benefit from access to education, to training or training materials. This is where Singapore's advantages in skills, capacity building and vocational training would be very helpful to them, in terms of us training the trainers so that these institutions would clearly be Laotian-led and Laotian run and operated. It will help create more jobs, higher value jobs for them as well and it will benefit us because we need to be part of these global supply chains. I think we are still in the early days and these projects are, in a sense, the tip of the iceberg. So, I do not want to jump ahead, but I would say it illustrates that there is the potential and there are sensible rational arrangements that can be made bilaterally, regionally, ASEAN-wide, which will unlock the potential for Laos and also expand opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans.

The other aspect I want to emphasise – you were just there at the reception for Singaporeans – you might be surprised that (there are) Singaporeans who have been living here 20, 30, 40 years, and they engage in a wide variety of activities, from businesses to running social enterprises. They have made a real difference to the lives of the Laotians whom they have touched. You can see their sense of purpose, compassion and goodwill. I should also add, in my interactions with the Laotian leaders, they have all made a point to thank us for the contributions of Singaporeans, both those who have been living here for a long time, as well as many youth and young volunteers who have come here (and) spent their holidays here actually building things and helping the local communities. It is these kinds of interactions that build people-to-people ties, enhance the reservoir of trust and goodwill for Singapore, and elevates the standing and branding of Singapore. I want to make a point of thanking the Singaporeans who have contributed, in ways big and small, and are really flying our flag high. I am very glad we had the chance to meet our Singaporeans here and I am grateful for their contributions.

Claudia Liao (Lianhe Zaobao): What are the prospects with regard to this renewable energy sector cooperation between Singapore and Laos, in particular the LTMFS-PIP (Lao PDR- Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project)?  In 2022, when it just started, it was for a two-year period, which (meant that it) might end this year. Any plan to continue this project or increase the amount of renewable energy?

Minister: I am not in the position to make any announcements today. But this has been a project which has shown that it is feasible. This is also a project that, I believe, should involve bilateral, multilateral, and ASEAN-wide arrangements. There is still quite a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of negotiating the commercial arrangements, the policy and legislative frameworks. It is a worthwhile fertile ground that we need to continue working on.

Leong Wai Kit (Channelnews Asia): Singapore has trained over 16,000 Laotian officials. Can you give me examples of how Singapore has leveraged on this technical assistance to Laos?

Minister: I would not use the word ‘leverage’. First, I would say our Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) has been very welcomed. We have trained over 16,000 Laotian senior officials over the years. Many of these senior officials, in fact, have risen all the way up to the top in the bureaucracy, and even sometimes in the political leadership as well. It is an opportunity for Singaporeans and Laotian officials to build ties, build trust, exchange ideas and see how we can, in our own respective fields, do things better, more effectively. That is where it has really been most helpful. The goodwill and the gratitude that it generates is invaluable. So I told them that we want to continue (with the SCP). We hope many more Laotian officials will also come to Singapore. It is a two-way exchange – exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Thank you very much.

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Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s doorstop interview with Singapore media in Vientiane, 27 January 2024

Photo Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore