Transcript of Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann’s Keynote Address at the 17th Japan-Singapore Symposium, Tokyo, Japan on 15 March 2024

Your Excellency Tsuge Yoshifumi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs

Your Excellency Otsuka Taku, Secretary-General of the Japan-Singapore Parliamentary Friendship League

Co-Chairmen Ambassador Sasae Kenichiro and Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me back to the Japan-Singapore Symposium (JSS) this year. Please allow me to express condolences to those affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake which occurred at the start of the year. Given the fortitude and resilience of the Japanese people, I am confident that those affected by the earthquake will recover from this stronger than before.

I had the honour of addressing the 16^th JSS held in Singapore last year. It is a pleasure to be here in Tokyo to speak at this distinguished gathering again. I would like to say a few words in Japanese to express my appreciation to our Japanese friends. 第17回日本・シンガポールシンポジウムにお招きいただきありがとうございます。桜が咲く素晴らしい季節に東京に来ることができ嬉しく思っております。 (Translation: Thank you for inviting me to the 17^th JSS. I am happy to be here in Tokyo, especially during this wonderful season of cherry blossoms.)

Let me also wish to express appreciation for the service of the former Singapore co-chair of the JSS, Ambassador Tommy Koh. He has made many contributions to Singapore-Japan relations over the years, including as the first and longest co-chair of the JSS since its inception in 1995. However, just as the sakura bloom beckons the coming of spring and new beginnings, this year we have Singapore’s former Ambassador to US, Mr Ashok Mirpuri, as our new co-chair. I have every confidence that Ashok will build on the good work by Ambassador Koh, and advance Singapore-Japan relations further through his co-chairmanship of the JSS.

Apart from having a new co-chair, this year’s JSS is special for another reason. This is the first time in five years that the JSS is being held in-person in Japan. This is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with our Japanese friends and also to reach out to the wider Japanese public and deepen mutual understanding between our two countries. I look forward to the discussion on how we can strengthen bilateral cooperation and work together regionally and globally on issues of common interest.

International Outlook

The theme of this year’s JSS is “Japan-Singapore Partnership in the Regional Architecture”. It is apt and timely. This is because the world is facing a host of interconnected challenges: strategic rivalry between the US and China; the Russia-Ukraine war; the Israel-Hamas conflict; climate change; and rapid advancement in technology, particularly in bioscience and AI. These are technological changes that require strong governance. These challenges mean that we require strong governance to deal with the accompanying risks and to ensure that the benefits are distributed fairly among economies that are already grappling with inequality and challenges to a rules-based multilateral trading system. And the list of challenges goes on.

What Japan and Singapore can do together in shaping and supporting regional architecture must be informed by our appreciation and analysis of these challenges. Among them, I would like to focus on one key challenge – the state of relations between the US and China.

The relationship between the US and China is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world with broad implications on global security and prosperity, and an outsized impact on regional stability in Asia. Tensions appear to have eased somewhat in recent months, which is a positive sign. We are encouraged that the US and China have continued to demonstrate commitment to maintaining open lines of communication and managing their relations responsibly. But this is a journey that inevitably will be challenging and comes with twists and turns. I am sure many of you will be familiar and would have noticed the recent passage of a bill in the US with serious implications on Tiktok’s operations and possibly ownership. This points to the fact that fundamental divergences remain. There is still a dearth of strategic trust between both sides. In the absence of trust, both sides will only assume the worst of each other, and this can lead to miscalculation over various flashpoints and fuel escalation. This is especially worrying for both Japan and Singapore given that both our countries have valuable and broad-ranging relations with the US as well with China, and because I believe we share the view that a world in which the US and China can co-exist peacefully and work together constructively is a safer and a more prosperous environment for us. 

Our region has been fortunate to have benefited from a long period of relative peace and security since the end of the Vietnam War. One of the key enablers for this has been the US’ sustained presence and leadership in Asia-Pacific. At the same time, our region has also seen significant economic growth and development, including the emergence of China as the world’s second largest economy and more broadly, the rise of Asia’s share of the global economy, which is remarkable in being an epochal transformation that took place amidst relatively little friction. As the rest of the world becomes much more divided and dangerous, the question is whether the long and sustained period of relative peace we have enjoyed in the Asia-Pacific can endure. If the US and China are able to cooperate in areas of common interest even as they compete in other areas, this will help to address a range of security challenges. This includes the conflicts I have mentioned earlier that are raging further afield as well as potential flashpoints like Taiwan, the East and South China Seas, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

In the area of prosperity, the world also needs new engines of growth and innovation to solve the challenges posed by ageing societies, inequality and climate change. Societies like Singapore and Japan, which are economically mature and also aging rapidly, experience the most pressing concerns. It is projected that those aged 65 or older will account for about 35% percent of Japan’s population in 2040 while 25% of Singapore’s population will be over the age of 65 by 2030. Productivity growth would have to pull more and more weight in order to maintain a good standard of living for our populations since workforce growth will be limited or even negative and with older consumer populations that have greater care needs and demands but are also more price-sensitive. A well-oiled and properly functioning multilateral trading system with as few barriers as possible coupled with flexible, resilient supply chains that reflect true comparative advantages becomes even more meaningful than ever, because we need them for sustained access to competitively priced consumer goods and services. So what can be done?

Leading economies should be pooling together their resources, and jointly focusing attention to maximise the opportunities of technology breakthroughs, for example, in AI, as well as the establishment of sound governance frameworks to minimise risks and ensure that benefits are fairly and evenly spread. And also, to arrest the trend towards a more fragmented and decoupled global system to ensure that the global supply chains are strengthened while the trading system is kept free, open and rules-based so that as many as possible can benefit. Any departure from this would mean a less prosperous and more divided world.

Japan-Singapore Partnership

This is the backdrop against which Singapore and Japan can work together to build a stronger and more stable regional architecture for a secure and prosperous future. Let me offer three recommendations for consideration.

One, given our convergence of strategic outlook and shared commitment to upholding an open and rules-based multilateral trading system, we should further strengthen our close cooperation at multilateral and regional fora. We are both members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). We also work closely at the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In fact, our countries, together with Australia, are co-convenors of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-Commerce at the WTO. We achieved substantial conclusion of a package of global digital trade rules last year, and we hope to conclude negotiations on the JSI in 2024. I hope that continued joint efforts to strengthen multilateralism and the rules-based global order will lead to a stronger, more stable and inclusive regional architecture as well.

Two, to enhance our cooperation in the context of ASEAN-Japan relations. Japan has been a steadfast and trusted partner to the region for many decades. We thank Japan for its consistent support for ASEAN Centrality. 2023 marked a major milestone for ASEAN-Japan relations as we celebrated our 50^th anniversary and upgraded relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Singapore is honoured to be taking over as country coordinator for ASEAN-Japan relations this July, for the next three years. We look forward to the further strengthening of Japan’s ties with ASEAN and its contribution to the regional architecture as outlined in the 2023 ASEAN-Japan Vision Statement. Singapore believes that Japan has much to contribute to regional security cooperation based on a stable, open and inclusive regional and international order. We should also work together in other areas of mutual interest such as upgrading the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement, concluding an ASEAN-Japan Air Services Agreement, and implementing tangible projects under the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo Pacific (AOIP).

Three, while Singapore and Japan already enjoy excellent and multifaceted relations, there remains much scope for us to do more. We share mutual interests on issues such as the future economy, climate change and sustainability, and energy transition. Over the years, our economic ties have been underpinned by the 2002 Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA), which was Japan’s first ever Free Trade Agreement and Singapore’s first with a major trading partner. As the JSEPA entered into force more than 20 years ago, we should explore how we can keep this agreement relevant and updated for our businesses, including by working together on the digital economy.

On climate change and sustainability, we should work towards implementing concrete initiatives arising from the August 2023 Joint Statement on climate and environmental cooperation; and Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on climate science and climate adaptation. On energy transition, Singapore congratulates Japan for hosting a successful Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Leaders’ Summit in December, which Prime Minister Lee attended. There is much that we can do together on decarbonisation. The MOC on the establishment of a Green and Digital Shipping Corridor signed in December 2023 is one concrete example. We can also explore joint research and development on low-carbon technologies and collaboration to facilitate high integrity carbon markets aligned to the Paris Agreement such as the Article 6 Implementation Partnership initiated by Japan.

Last but certainly not least, Singapore and Japan will mark the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2026, which is a very significant milestone, as State Minister Tsuge had noted just now. We look forward to working closely with Japan to commemorate this anniversary not just in form but also in substance.

Conclusion

The JSS has always been a symbol of the enduring bonds and collaboration between our two countries. In a time where profound and pressing challenges are facing our region in general, and our two countries in particular, fora such as JSS have never been more necessary. I hope that the discussion today will yield constructive ideas and insights to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation and the regional architecture. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

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