SINGAPORE – SPH Media, which publishes The Straits Times, is organising a conference to explore the role Asia can play in the world, and the opportunities ahead in a fast-changing geopolitical and economic landscape.
The Asia Future Summit 2023, an inaugural collaboration between The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times, is an invitation-only event to be held on Oct 4 and 5 at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.
The conference will feature more than 20 distinguished local and international speakers, and around 300 delegates including thought leaders and senior representatives from the public, private and people sectors.
Editors from all three titles will moderate the sessions, which will focus on three key themes:
- Finding Balance Amid Geopolitical Tensions;
- Staying Nimble Amid Economic Uncertainties; and
- Forging New Ways Amid Societal Shifts.
This year’s event, taking place amid the birth centenary of Singapore’s founding prime minister, has as its theme, Revisiting Lee Kuan Yew’s View Of The World: Looking Ahead To Singapore And Asia’s Future Amid Turbulent Times.
The summit will open with a dialogue with Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, on Singapore’s place in the world.
On the first day of the summit, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat will participate in a commemorative panel discussion titled Reflecting On Lee Kuan Yew’s Contributions To The Development Of Asia And Global Relations. Mr Heng will be joined by former Australian prime minister John Howard and Taiwan’s Mr Ma Ying-jeou, founder and chairman of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation.
Over the two days, there will also be panel discussions on United States-China cooperation in an age of strategic competition, and on how businesses can stay nimble amid economic uncertainty and seize the next bound of growth in Asia.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will speak at the closing dialogue, on looking ahead to Asia’s future.
Ms Teo Lay Lim, chief executive of SPH Media, said: “SPH Media and its flagship titles have been active in building thought leadership platforms that showcase diverse views and facilitate balanced and constructive discourse.”
The summit will “feature wide-ranging conversations on the global challenges of our time”, with experienced editors helming the sessions “to shape the various conversations and to draw out meaningful perspectives”, she added.
Mr Wong Wei Kong, editor-in-chief of SPH Media’s English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, said: “As we find our way forward for Singapore and Asia amidst simmering geopolitical tensions, an uncertain economic environment and shifting societal conditions, it is important that we remain open to different ways of seeing the world and to foster deep and meaningful exchanges between people.”
Mr Wong added: “The Asia Future Summit 2023 seeks to provide a new regional platform where leaders from the public, private and people sectors can come together to discuss key issues of the day.”
SPH Media will be holding a two-day conference on the future of Asia on Oct 4 and Oct 5.
The by-invitation Asia Future Summit 2023 will bring together 300 delegates, thought leaders, policymakers and diplomats, and feature more than 20 speakers. They include Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former prime minister of Australia John Howard, former United States ambassador to Singapore Jon Huntsman and Mr Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys.
The event at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, will also discuss the world views of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister who died in 2015 and who would have turned 100 this year.
OCBC is the presenting sponsor of the event.
Ms Lee Huay Leng, editor-in-chief of SPH Media’s Chinese Media Group, said much thought was put into developing the programme, which hopes to offer different viewpoints and facilitate lively discussions on important topics.
“In commemorating the birth centenary of our founding prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, we will take the opportunity not just to revisit his contributions to the development of Singapore, but also to reflect on his thought leadership that has shaped regional and global discourse, and put Singapore on the world map,” she added.
Mr Jaime Ho, editor of The Straits Times, said: “What we hope to do through this year’s summit is to provide not just the context and colour to Asia’s centrality to the world’s growth stories, but also a realistic and honest assessment of the challenges that we face.”
He added: “By tapping the perspectives of distinguished speakers from Singapore and around the world, we hope to provide insights into these challenges as well as opportunities.
“This is Asia’s future, and ours to continue to make, if we address these common global issues collectively.”
- OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023. The event is also supported by Guocoland and Kingsford Group.
