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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Statements

Participation of Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Development Alvin Tan at the Virtual 37th APEC Ministerial Meeting, 4 November 2026

4 November 2026

Participation of Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Development Alvin Tan at the Virtual 37th APEC Ministerial Meeting, 4 November 2026

Minister of State (MOS) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Development Alvin Tan and MOS in the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry Foo Cexiang participated in the 37th APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM), hosted virtually by the People’s Republic of China on 3 November 2026.

At the AMM, MOS Tan underscored the importance of preserving an open and cooperative regional environment amidst growing geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. He highlighted the need to strengthen regional connectivity, including by keeping supply chains resilient and maritime trade routes open and secure, as well as promoting people-to-people exchanges. MOS Tan also called for pragmatic cooperation to address shared challenges. The intervention delivered by MOS Tan at the AMM is at ANNEX.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

4 NOVEMBER 2026

ANNEX


Co-chairs, Minister Wang Yi and Minister Wang Wentao, Excellencies,


  1. I thank China for its leadership of APEC this year. Singapore looks forward to attending the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting later this month.


  1. APEC is an important bridge that has helped sustain our region’s stability and prosperity since its formation.


  1. Today, however, our region faces rising tensions, fraying trust and supply chain disruptions.


  1. To do so requires us to keep our region open and connected, while also finding common ground for pragmatic cooperation.


  1. The WTO estimates that fragmentation of the multilateral trading system into different blocs could reduce global GDP by 5.1%. To deal with these challenges and realise our APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 of an open, peaceful Asia-Pacific community, we must focus our efforts on two areas.

 

  1. First, we must keep our region open and connected:

    1. For our economies and businesses to continue to grow, they must trade and invest with one

      • This means keeping our trade flows robust and our supply chains connected. We thus welcome ongoing work under Phase Three of APEC's Supply Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan (SCFAP III) to address chokepoints and to strengthen resilience.

      • Many of you tonight have highlighted your concerns around the ongoing energy disruption facing our region. That is why we must affirm our shared commitment to maintaining stable, open, and reliable global energy supply chains and maritime trade routes.

    2. The most important actor in this endeavour is ultimately our people. Our decision makers – present and future decision makers.

      • We should thus encourage more exchanges such as the inaugural APEC Youth Scholars Forum in Shenzhen which brought together young scholars from 13 economies, including Singapore, to exchange ideas on innovation, education and sustainability.


  1. Beyond keeping our region open and connected, we must also find common ground for pragmatic and practical cooperation on our shared challenges, which brings me to my second point.

    1. We have shared challenges of demographic shifts and the changing needs of our workforce.

      • We therefore welcome the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting’s outcomes on lifelong learning, workplace training, and apprenticeships to prepare our workers for technological change.

      • At the meeting, Singapore shared how our efforts and experience on tripartism and job redesign, continue to help our workers thrive in the face of demographic and technological change.

    2. We also welcome the review of the Aotearoa Plan of Action under New Zealand’s and China’s leadership. Beyond taking stock of our progress, the plan of action will also set APEC’s direction for the next five years.

      • In that context, we should continue making progress on our longer-term goals, including making incremental steps towards the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).


  1. Chair, Singapore stands ready to work with all APEC economies to preserve a stable, open and cooperative regional environment.



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