Countries must ‘resist tendency to look inwards’ amid unprecedented global challenges: Iswaran

SINGAPORE: It is important for countries to resist the tendency to look inwards amid global challenges such as geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions, said Transport Minister and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran on Saturday (Jul 9).

Speaking at an economic conference in France, he noted that the world is facing “an unprecedented confluence of challenges”. Countries have had to deal with the impact of COVID-19 as well as the war in Ukraine. 

“We are also dealing with supply chain disruptions for a variety of reasons,” he said at the Les Rencontres économiques d’Aix-en-Provence, organised by the French think tank Le Cercle des économistes. 

“Globally and at the individual country-level, we need to think about what is the appropriate economic and political policy strategy that we should be adopting.” 

Laying out three areas of focus, Mr Iswaran said that the world should “resist the tendency to look inwards but ensure that we maintain global international connectivity”.

“This is important because when we talk about supply chain resilience, diversification is essential,” he added.

The minister noted that Singapore has embarked on free trade agreements and has continued to do so in the past two years. It concluded a free trade agreement with the European Union and is continuing to do so with many countries and regions, said Mr Iswaran. 

There is also a need to deepen cooperation in growth areas such as the digital and green economies, said Mr Iswaran.

Highlighting digitalisation, Mr Iswaran said it is important for businesses, the economy and people to be “plugged into” it to fully tap opportunities.

Singapore has embarked on digital economy agreements and partnerships with many countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Chile. It has also initiated a dialogue with the EU. 

“We want to be able to do more of this to create digital bridges,” he said.