Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong's Visit to Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea, 29 October to 1 November 2025

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea, from 29 October to 1 November 2025 to attend the 32^nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM).

At the AELM, Leaders committed to working together to unlock new opportunities and maximise economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Discussions were around the theme of “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper”. APEC economies supported the WTO Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, AI initiatives to support economic progress and transformation, and discussed ways to tackle the challenges brought about by demographic changes.

In his interventions, Prime Minister Wong discussed how APEC economies must stay connected in a world facing complex challenges. He highlighted the need to protect and update the global rules-based trading system. He also discussed how economies could collectively tap on AI to strengthen economic growth in the region. The full text of Prime Minister Wong’s intervention is appended.

On the sidelines of the AELM, Prime Minister Wong attended a dinner hosted by ROK President Lee Jae Myung in honour of United States President Donald Trump, alongside fellow Leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam. The Leaders had a wide-ranging conversation on global developments during the meal. Prime Minister Wong also attended another Leaders-level dinner with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, which was hosted by New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Prime Minister Wong had meetings with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, and United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the AELM.  Prime Minister Wong had productive discussions with them on new ways our economies can cooperate to achieve sustainable growth for our peoples. Prime Minister Wong also met with Singapore’s members on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Together with Chilean President Gabriel Boric and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister Wong also attended the launch of negotiations for a new plurilateral Green Economy Partnership Agreement (GEPA).

Prime Minister Wong will depart for Seoul today.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

1 NOVEMBER 2025

PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR FINANCE

LAWRENCE WONG’S INTERVENTION AT

SESSION 2, ‘PREPARING A FUTURE-READY ASIA-PACIFIC’,

AT THE 32^ND APEC ECONOMIC LEADERS’ MEETING

IN GYEONGJU, THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Your Majesty, Excellencies,

I thank President Lee for the wonderful and unforgettable Gala Dinner last night.

1.    This session is about preparing for a future-ready Asia-Pacific, so I will focus my remarks on the potential of AI, and how we can work together to harness it.

2.    AI will drive the next wave of growth in our economies.  It will uplift productivity, and transform the way we work and live.

3.    Singapore’s focus is on the application and use of AI.

a.    We are a small, compact, digitally connected city-state. We can’t ourselves develop the best leading-edge AI foundation models, but we can make use of them to develop and create applications with the biggest impact, in areas like finance, logistics, healthcare and advanced manufacturing.

b.    But we can’t do this work alone, and we are very keen to cooperate and exchange best practices with other APEC economies.

4.    Let me suggest some ways for us to unlock the potential of AI, while fostering the responsible use and development of this technology.

5.    First, we need to build up the capabilities of our workforce and prepare our workforce for AI.

a.    With every new wave of technology, some jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created. Historically, the net impact has been positive, meaning more net jobs have been created.

b.    But there is no economic law that guarantees this will automatically happen. Just because it happened in the past doesn’t mean it will also happen in the future. We cannot leave this to the market.

c.    And that means governments must invest more in re-designing jobs, creating jobs and re-skilling and up-skilling our workers, so that we are not caught on the backfoot.

d.    And by doing so, we can ensure that the returns from AI investments will accrue not just to the owners of capital, but also to workers, and importantly to all our people.

6.    Second, we must continue to build trust in AI.

a.    And that’s why Singapore is playing an active role in global efforts to advance AI standards – so that there is an overall framework for innovation and users know that they are using responsibly-developed systems.

b.    We set up the AI Verify Foundation to set such standards in partnership with the private sector.  It now has over 170 members including firms like Google and OpenAI.

c.    And earlier this year, we convened leading experts to formulate the Singapore Consensus on Global AI Safety Research Priorities, aligning our views on the development, assessment, and management of AI.

7.    Third, we should keep data corridors open, because data is what powers AI models.

a.    And that’s why we support the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules, which facilitate the free flow of data with trust, in order to promote AI innovation. 

b.    Trade agreements like the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement can also enable seamless data flows.

8.    APEC can lead our efforts in all of these three areas.  

a.    Our members have AI expertise and experience.  Our businesses include digital giants.  And our people, increasingly the younger generation, are all digital natives.

b.    We commend Korea for convening the first-ever APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting this year, recognising how AI can shape our future. 

c.    The APEC AI Initiative is another step in the right direction.  It will promote greater cooperation on AI through policy exchanges and capability-building projects, and foster investments in AI infrastructure.

9.    Singapore looks forward to working with APEC economies to ensure that our societies benefit from AI.  Together, we can put AI to work on the problems that matter most, so that our people can prosper together. Thank you Chair.

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