SINGAPORE - Respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all, taking collective action on global issues, and promoting openness and interconnectedness rather than engaging in zero-sum self-interest are some guideposts for Singapore to secure its place in a turbulent and uncertain world, said Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Mr Teo, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security, added that in this new world, while Singapore’s strategies and solutions may change, these principles that underpin them remain.

In the opening address at the Asia Future Summit 2023, he said: “Singapore today is better equipped than ever before in terms of human capital, know-how, material resources and international networks, to play a part in nudging the world in the direction of openness, inclusivity and enlightened self-interest, both for our own benefit and also for the region and the world as a whole.”

The two-day summit is a collaboration between The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times. The invitation-only event is taking place on Wednesday and Thursday at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. It features more than 20 distinguished local and international speakers, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat.

About 300 delegates, including thought leaders and senior representatives from the public, private and people sectors, will attend the summit.

The event is themed Revisiting Lee Kuan Yew’s View Of The World: Looking Ahead To Singapore And Asia’s Future Amid Turbulent Times, as the Republic marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founding prime minister. Mr Teo said the world is in a new phase – beyond the so-called “end of history”, and once again in a period of intense contestation.

He highlighted the intensified global competition, with nationalism and protectionism impinging on free trade, a brutal war in Europe and a record low strategic trust between the United States and China as some reasons for the tense global situation.

This could prove dicey for small countries like Singapore, which he said are typically price-takers in the global economy and may be pressured to take sides in a world where “narrow self-interest and zero-sum thinking pervade”.

Mr Teo said Singapore cannot afford to close itself off, but cautioned that this openness should not be unfettered either.

“A pragmatic approach must include a system domestically to ensure an equitable distribution of the benefits,” he said. “Internationally, we need a robust and fair mechanism to resolve disputes that will inevitably arise.”

On the matter of conflict between nations, Mr Teo said Singapore must continue to respect all territorial integrity and sovereignty.

He pointed out that Singapore voted against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly, just as it had against the US invasion of Grenada in 1983.

Mr Teo said: “We must insist on this principle, or we will find ourselves in a world where might is right, and the law of the jungle prevails.”

Global forces, he said, are often beyond the control of small countries. But he noted that Mr Lee had once said that “Singapore has to take the world as it is”.

Mr Teo added: “But Mr Lee also believed, and Singapore’s history shows, that small countries like Singapore are not without agency.”

There are many global issues that require collective action such as mitigating climate change, fighting cross-boundary and cyber crime, and managing space and cyberspace as global commons.

“There are opportunities to influence and shape outcomes,” said Mr Teo. “And we can do so by speaking our mind, offering innovative pathways, nudging and working with like-minded partners through platforms like the Forum of Small States (FOSS) and the Group of 77.”

Singapore has also been a mediator focused on outcomes, for example, in areas of climate change and biodiversity, noted Mr Teo.

He cited how Singapore facilitated consultations among countries for key aspects of the 2015 Paris Agreement – an international treaty on climate change – and later again in 2021, to arrive at the Article 6 rules for carbon markets.

He said that in both cases, there were major sticking points among countries that Singapore helped to overcome.

Mr Teo added: “We can play a meaningful part in facilitating international action, quietly leveraging our reputation as an honest, trusted and well-informed broker, to combine the collective strengths of like-minded countries.”

Taking stock of how far Singapore has come since its independence, he said the country has always charted its own path and strove for practical outcomes, rather than rely on ideology – even if it attracted criticism.

For example, when Singapore decided to open up to the free market and sought to industralise by tapping foreign direct investment, some called it neo-colonialism, said Mr Teo.

But Singapore structured investments carefully in order to benefit from technology infusion, market access and job creation. This approach led the city-state to experience rapid economic growth and garner lessons.

He said creating a nation from meagre beginnings, amid intense ideological contestation pulling from all sides, required discipline in adhering to Singapore’s core principles.

“If not for this, the Singapore of today, which in many ways still rests on those key founding principles, could easily have looked very different.”

Following his speech, Mr Teo was asked questions by the audience in a dialogue moderated by The Straits Times editor Jaime Ho.

On the relevance of multilateral institutions and the role they play today, he said that many of these blocs such as the UN, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were created during a different world order, after World War II.

Therefore, their constructs and structures were crafted based on different principles that may not apply today in a changed world.

Mr Teo said the UN was known as an “imperfect” organisation, which has structures that emerged after the war because of geopolitical power balances. The world has changed greatly since then, he said, and something has to be done to make the UN more effective and relevant.

“I think the solution is not to ignore it and throw it away, because what would you invent in its place? The principles are still relevant, but you have to make it work.”

He said that institutions such as the IMF and World Bank have to “reflect a new world, with new players, with new interests”, and be able to tap the resources they have to offer and speak to the interest of the “new constituency of countries that exist today”.

Dr Norbert Riedel, the German Ambassador to Singapore, asked Mr Teo about the future of cooperation between Singapore and the European Union – as well as that of the region – beyond being an economic partner.

Mr Teo noted that the EU has “great heft”, but said it needs to understand that the rest of the world is not the same, with their own interests, concerns and imperatives.

He suggested that the EU needs to have “serious engagement”, and to have an understanding of the history, dynamics and culture of other countries and their people, and what they want.

“You can’t look at it only through the lens of Europe, the European Union and the European way of thinking about the world. The world is a much more diverse place.”

He noted that the EU is “struggling” with how much it should be involved in European security – a matter that Mr Teo said Europe should resolve first before it thinks of expanding its security footprint beyond its region.

He added that when Europe is ready to do so, he hopes it will “do so in a way which contributes to stability and a safer world”.

• OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023. The event is also supported by Guocoland and Kingsford Group.