Working Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan to Johannesburg, South Africa, 20 to 21 February 2025

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan attended the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in Johannesburg, South Africa from 20 to 21 February 2025.  

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers emphasised the importance of engagement and cooperation in dealing with ongoing international tensions. They also highlighted the need for the G20 to be fit for purpose in dealing with today’s complex global challenges.

Minister Balakrishnan called for a reaffirmation of the need and role of the G20 and other international organisations including the United Nations. He added that international law and the rules-based multilateral system are essential to ensure fair play, as the alternative is ‘might is right’, and a world that will be hostile for small and less developed countries.

Minister Balakrishnan also underscored the need for collective action in ensuring inclusive economic growth, addressing food insecurity, and leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) effectively and responsibly. The full text of Minister Balakrishnan’s interventions are appended.

Minister Balakrishnan met South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola and expressed Singapore’s support for South Africa’s 2025 G20 Presidency. Minister Balakrishnan also met his counterparts from Australia, the European Union, France, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the G20 FMM.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

23 FEBRUARY 2025

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN’S INTERVENTION AT THE 2025 JOHANNESBURG

G20 FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING

PLENARY SESSION II

DISCUSSION ON THE GLOBAL GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION

Thank you for inviting Singapore who is not a member of the G20 to this meeting, held under the first G20 Presidency on African soil. It is often said that history does not have to repeat itself, but it does rhyme. We are speaking English today because the Industrial Revolution began in Europe and the developed economies colonised many of us in Asia and Africa in search of minerals, spices, and slaves.

2        With the first World War meant the death knell for empires, although it took 50 years for decolonisation to complete. It is worth remembering that with the end of this first World War, the Treaty of Versailles, with its punitive measures and territorial concessions, was signed. This was followed by the Great Depression, the rise of totalitarian regimes, and the failure of the League of Nations. There were unresolved territorial and national disputes, both internal and regional. Does it sound familiar?

3        These developments set the stage for the second World War. But what is fascinating about the end of the second World War is that the victors of the second World War took a very unusual step. They created a liberal world order, characterised internationally by the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions, and economic integration. They lowered trade barriers and promoted a variety of democracies, liberal values, and human rights. And this was a recipe for many decades of unusual peace and prosperity.

4        I speak from the point of view of Singapore, a tiny island city-state in the heart of Southeast Asia. We were prime beneficiaries of that liberal world order. But we know that by 1997, we had the Asian Financial Crisis. And in fact, that was the genesis of the initial meetings of G20 Finance Ministers, to deal with the financial crisis. And then the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 led to the elevation of meetings of the G20 at the leader’s level.

5        Fast forward to today, the situation is more dire. We have hot wars in Europe, in the Middle East, in Africa. More importantly, we are seeing an erosion of the collective commitment to multilateralism, to the international rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. And that is why this calls for a reaffirmation of the need and the role of the G20, but in fact, a more fundamental reaffirmation of the United Nations, of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Paris Agreement. All these international institutions are characterised by a multilateral approach to solving and protecting the problem of the global commons.

6        So, my friends, I will conclude by saying that we completely support the agenda that South Africa has put out in leading the G20 this year. We have a choice. We are at an inflection point. We either go into an inter-world war interregnum of the 1920s and 30s,  or if we short circuit that, avoid a world war and resolve the fires which are now burning in our regions, and get into a reformed system of multilateralism defined by respect for international law.

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MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN’S INTERVENTION AT THE 2025 JOHANNESBURG

G20 FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING

PLENARY SESSION III

REFLECTION ON SOUTH AFRICA’S G20 PRESIDENCY HIGH-LEVEL DELIVERABLES AND THE REVIEW OF THE G20@20

         Thank you, Ronald. Singapore is not a member of the G20, and we are grateful for your invitation. Considering that Singapore is a small island city-state, I do not think we can ever be a major economy within the first 20 in the world. But we are a major trading hub. Our trade volume is three times our GDP and we are a significant global financial centre. Hence, we do have real skin in the agenda of the G20.

2        As a small city state, we have no choice but to uphold multilateralism, international law, and the United Nations (UN) Charter. Principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity are non-negotiable for us. They are absolutely essential for peace. International law and the rules-based multilateral system are essential to ensure fair play, because the alternative is ‘might is right’, and a world that will be hostile for small and less developed countries. But there are still notable successes in international cooperation. One case in point is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides an essential legal framework that ensures freedom of navigation and equitable access to maritime resources as a right and not by the grace of any resident power. And for trade, maritime access is still the most cost effective and sustainable way to move things across from oceans to oceans, country to country.

3        The recent adoption of the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) is another case in point, that even in this time when multilateralism and international law are under pressure, it is still possible to arrive at international agreements by consensus. In the case of Singapore, in the last few years, we have also been able to sign trade agreements with both Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance, and you do not need to be a political scientist to know that that includes countries with very wide range of political views. Free trade and economic integration are still viable, and that is why we support the priorities that South Africa has outlined in order to find the right solutions to international cooperation.

4        First, we need to spur sustainable and inclusive economic growth. More importantly, it is in the long-term national interest of the developed countries to uplift the prospects of the less developed countries. I know that everyone has a sovereign right to develop your own set of economic policies, but history and past crises have also reminded us that there is a need to coordinate these policies so that we do not engage in beggar-thy-neighbour policies or in predatory and unfair practices, especially when there are other vulnerable countries in the room. And we believe that focusing on these four key enablers, namely high-quality education for all, reskilling and upskilling the workforce, investing in healthcare, food, and nutrition, and providing equitable access to housing, are essential. The G20 can facilitate these enablers all across the world, so we must continue to prioritise investments for these enablers.

5        Second, I completely support South Africa's focus on food security. The fact is that climate change is ongoing, and the emergence of water and biodiversity crises means it is only a matter of time before we reach a global food crisis. So, we need to continue to invest in capacity building, especially for the developing countries to develop climate resilient food infrastructure. It is vital that innovative financing mechanisms are in place to mobilise funds from both the private and the public sector.

6        Third, on AI, I believe we need a balance of both investments to facilitate progress in AI and appropriate regulations. Let me use the metaphor of a car. If you want to drive a car very, very quickly, say a Formula One car, you need both an accelerator and a brake. If you do not have brakes, you cannot drive quickly. Similarly, if you want to have efficient transport systems in your country, you need well engineered highways, and if you want to interconnect those highways from countries to countries and make it safe for everybody to use, you need a highway code where everybody complies and operates on a shared understanding of the rules on which you will utilise these technologies. I agree with Argentina on the need for transparency in AI, but equally the need for interoperability.  My final point on AI is that as it needs more and more data, we should bear in mind that there is a whole wealth of multicultural, multilingual data, which the world can offer. So, the more we share, the faster we can progress and the safer we can be. Thank you all very much.

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