ASEAN, GERMANY AND FRANCE
This means we need to “strengthen our own neighbourhood”, Mr Wong said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He highlighted the work done between ASEAN members in several areas, including digital and green connectivity, a regional power grid and payment systems.
Even as ASEAN becomes “more competitive and relevant”, it should link up with other regions, Mr Wong said.
He noted that Singapore has free trade agreements with South American blocs Mercosur and Pacific Alliance, and that it is also connecting with the Middle East and Africa.
“We want to then plug to all the different regional groupings and make sure that, however, trade flows are being reconfigured, Singapore and ASEAN can still be at the heartbeat of that reconfigured trade flows, and we can continue to remain relevant,” said Mr Wong.
Singapore and Germany recently agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to a “strategic partnership”, while Singapore and France announced in April that they would work towards a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
“We want to be friends with all countries, big and small, and how far we can go into cooperation with any particular country, of course, will depend on what each country puts on the table for cooperation and the areas of mutual interest, but we want to cooperate to the extent possible with everyone,” said Mr Wong.
France and Germany are two key countries with a wide spectrum of capabilities and are not just economic powerhouses but leaders in their own right, he added. They also have many companies operating out of Singapore.
France and Germany both “look at engaging China in a pragmatic manner”, said the prime minister.
“They look at China as a competitor, but they also want to chart their own course, separate from America, in engaging China,” he said.
France and Germany also want to engage Southeast Asia even more, which is important for Singapore, as it wants the region to be more an open and inclusive one “which can engage all the major parties and powers, where we are not dominated by any single party”, Mr Wong said.
“That’s in our interest, because we think, by doing so, we have a framework that allows more countries to have stakes in the region, more economic interdependency, and that will help to reduce the chances of conflict and will maximise the likelihood of us being able to maintain stability and prosperity in the region.”
Mr Wong said that he was planning to visit Thailand later this year.
He also noted the upcoming Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat, adding that “there are important issues bilaterally that we want to take stock and hopefully make progress on”.
There is also the People’s Action Party (PAP) conference on Sunday.
“So this will wrap up the engagements for the year, but the domestic priorities continue to be top of our minds, whether it’s preparing for an event like the party conference or preparing for the Budget, where a lot of work is already started and we will start to ramp up as the date as the budget date gets closer,” said Mr Wong.
