Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Second Minister for Education, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, joined Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong at the 32ndAPEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) hosted by New Zealand on 8 and 9 November 2021.
At the AMM, Minister Maliki highlighted that 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.
Minister Maliki further stressed that digital readiness is essential. 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. He was heartened to note that there are ongoing initiatives in APEC in this area but work should accelerate. 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.
Minister Maliki added that 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. For Singapore, we have launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a 10-year roadmap towards sustainable development and net zero emissions. However, protecting our environment, similar to pandemic response, requires concerted efforts at the local, regional, and global level. Through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), we have shared our development experience with more than 132,000 government officials from over 180 developing economies since 1992, including from fellow APEC economies.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Singapore