Singapore ‘shapes its own destiny’ amid global unpredictability, PM Lawrence Wong says in WSJ interview

SINGAPORE: In his recent interview in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong underlined the troubled times we live in, saying that “there will be a lot of unpredictability, messiness” as the global order changes.

He also noted that Singapore stands to “feel the impact more heavily than most” due to its size and the nature of its economy.

Nevertheless, the city-state is neither helpless nor hapless.

“On our own, we cannot change these big, powerful forces, but we are not passive bystanders. We will do what we can to shape our own destiny and make our own living in this new world,” he told the WSJ’s World Coverage Chief, Gordon Fairclough, on Sep 17.

The key to this is partnerships, the Prime Minister added, such as the recently announced Future of Investment and Trade Partnership (FIT-P), which Singapore convened with Switzerland, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates.

He explained that FIT-P is made up of 14 small and medium trade-dependent countries with the same concerns, such as supply chains and non-tariff barriers, and noted that other countries have expressed an interest in the partnership as well.

In light of global uncertainties, the Prime Minister also said that Singapore, as well as other countries, is “keen to pursue stronger partnerships with other groupings”, such as the European Union. He mentioned, as well, the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), of which Singapore is already a part, and, of course, ASEAN.

“So if you look at it, CPTPP comprises 15 per cent of the world’s GDP, EU is another 15 per cent, ASEAN makes up 6 to 7 per cent; now that is not a startup effort anymore. That is a major effort, and I think if we can get that progressing, then we have a chance of working with like-minded countries to preserve and reinforce the multilateral frameworks that matter. And through this messy and unpredictable period, who knows what would emerge down the road, but at least we steer things in the right direction,” he added.

And ASEAN countries, which have been the “arena for proxy wars of major powers in the past,” are putting their foot down.

“ASEAN as a whole, we have taken a clear position that we want to engage all the major powers. We reject dominance by any single power and zero-sum competition,” said the Prime Minister.

A transcript of PM Wong’s WSJ interview may be found here. /TISG

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