1 Kia ora. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share Singapore’s perspectives with fellow Ministers of APEC economies.
2 This is the second year we are meeting virtually. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. While there are signs of recovery in some economies, the road ahead remains bumpy. More transmissible variants could quickly lead to another surge of infections as many economies, including Singapore, have experienced.
3 As vaccination rates go up, this should allow us to gradually reopen up our economies and borders, and transition towards endemic living.
4 The COVID-19 pandemic has, however, demonstrated that we need to do better in order to achieve a robust, inclusive, and sustainable recovery.
5 First, international cooperation remains key in pandemic preparedness, prevention and response, and ensuring supply chain connectivity. We need to prepare now for the next pandemic. Hence, the work that APEC has undertaken, in particular, in strengthening supply chain resilience and developing safe travel protocols, should continue.
6 Second, digital readiness is essential. Just like how we ensure that if children cannot go to school, they can do so via online classes; we also need to support businesses by building industry and consumer confidence in the use of digital devices and technologies, so that operations can continue on digital platforms. Digital transformation, however, goes beyond new technologies and hardware. It can empower people and improve their lives. Hence, bridging the gap between the digital haves and have-nots, and boosting digital literacy, will provide more opportunities for our people to benefit from the digital economy.
7 I am heartened to note that there are ongoing initiatives in APEC in this area but work should accelerate. We hope that the prompt implementation of the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER) will lead to greater innovation, as well as the adoption of enabling technologies and services. At the same time, we need to foster regional and international cooperation in strengthening interoperability between different regimes and standards, so businesses can operate more easily across borders. On our part, Singapore is actively building digital partnerships with several APEC economies, like the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement with Chile and New Zealand, as well as the Digital Economy Agreement with Australia. At the WTO, Australia, Japan, and Singapore are co-convenors of the Joint Statement Initiative of E-Commerce, which seeks to establish trade rules to govern this emerging area. These serve as crucial building blocks in a larger global architecture, which will empower our economies and people to be ready for the digital revolution.
8 Third, it is important to ensure that our economic recovery will not cause further harm to the environment. APEC, as a key multilateral fora in the region, needs to build into its agenda proposals that promote environmental sustainability.
9 For us, we have launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a 10-year roadmap towards sustainable development and net zero emissions. Amongst others, we will plant one million more trees to transform Singapore into a City in Nature, quadruple solar energy deployment by 2025, import 30% of energy from low-carbon sources by 2035, and support the growth of sustainable enterprises through a S$180 million Enterprise Sustainability Programme. We must also accept that there are costs to saving the planet.There will be opportunities in green technologies and industries, and the long-term cost of doing nothing will be much more than the cost of mitigation measures.However, protecting our environment, similar to pandemic response, requires concerted efforts at the local, regional, and global level.
10 Through the Singapore Cooperation Programme, or SCP, we have also shared our development experience with more than 132,000 government officials from over 180 developing economies since 1992. To support developing economies in their recovery efforts, we have partnered other APEC economies such as Japan, Mexico, Thailand, the US, and Viet Nam to conduct capacity building programmes on public health, digitalisation, and climate change.
11 In brief, now more than ever, it is critical for APEC economies to work together, not only to overcome this global crisis but to also lay the groundwork for a post-COVID future that is resilient, inclusive, and sustainable for all of us and our future generations. We thank New Zealand for its leadership this year in helping to chart this path ahead and Thailand can continue to count on Singapore’s cooperation for its upcoming APEC Chairmanship. Singapore supports the offer by the US and Peru to host APEC in 2023 and 2024 respectively. We look forward to working with them and other APEC economies to continue the important work of ensuring a robust, inclusive, and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Singapore
