MFA Press Release : Transcript of Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli's Reply to Parliamentary Question, 21 October 2013

TRANSCRIPT OF SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS MASAGOS ZULKIFLI’S REPLY TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION, 21 OCTOBER 2013

QUESTION :-

MR NICHOLAS FANG: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) what will be the long-term impact of President Barack Obama's recent absence from the APEC Summit in Bali; and (b) whether this is an example of potential challenges which can derail the US' strategic pivot to Asia.

REPLY:

SMS : It was understandable that US President Barack Obama could not attend the APEC meetings in Indonesia and the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the inaugural ASEAN-US Summit in Brunei, given the pressing need for him to remain in the US. The impact would be far worse if the US government could not resolve its fiscal problem, compared to the cancellation of a US Presidential visit, which could be reinstated to the region at anytime.

2 Nevertheless, the gridlock in the US domestic politics and the fact that the US’ fiscal position continues to be imbalanced sends a worrying signal to the international community. This has implications beyond the economic uncertainty and impact caused by the gridlock. It has led many observers, both in the US and internationally, to voice concerns about the impact on the US’ ability to exercise global leadership. President Obama’s presence at the key meetings in Asia would have been a good opportunity to reinforce his personal, high-level commitment to the US’ rebalancing policy towards the Asia-Pacific.

3 However, the fact is that the US remains resilient and innovative. It has a dynamic economy that continues to produce and attract top talent. Despite the political challenges and domestic distractions, the US remains a key player in our region. US leaders are fully cognizant of the mutual benefit that all parties stand to gain from the US’ continued engagement of Asia.

4 Secretary of State John Kerry stood in as President Obama’s representative. He and the other regional leaders had positive and productive discussions at APEC, the EAS and ASEAN-US Summit. Good progress was made on important issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Singapore will host the next TPP Ministerial meeting in December, which we hope will help us work towards its substantive conclusion this year.

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TRANSCRIPT OF SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS MASAGOS ZULKIFLI’S REPLY TO SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION, 21 OCTOBER 2013

SPEAKER: Mr Fang.

MR NICHOLAS FANG: Thank you Madam and thank you SMS for the reply. I have one supplementary [question], which is the fact that the solution or whatever compromise seems to have been reached in the US, seems to have just postponed some of the inherent problems in the system for just barely even a few more months. With future developments and engagement with the US imminent, as [SMS] mentioned with the TPP upcoming, are there greater concerns on the part of the Ministry in terms of how the potential kicking of the can down the road, as it were, will continue to impact Singapore and ASEAN-US relations in the months ahead? Thank you.

SMS: Well, where Singapore is concerned we will continue to engage our partners – the US, China – all in balance. We have to pray that they get their domestic priorities right, because as I mentioned, what they decide in the future will have a lot of impact on the global world. The constant engagement by the world with the US will continue, so that they understand the impact that their decisions have on the region and international community.

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