Opening Remarks by Mr Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Finance, at the Czech Republic-Singapore Business Forum

Ladies and gentlemen,

1.     I am delighted to join you for the opening of the Czech Republic-Singapore Business Forum today.  Happy to see many business leaders from both countries in the audience.  

2.     This event presents a timely opportunity for us to explore and deepen our economic ties. 

3.     It also allows us to identify areas where we can work together to achieve our shared goals, especially as the global economy gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. There are areas where our two countries can work together, including in advanced manufacturing, trade, transport, digital economy and many others. 

Singapore-Czech Republic bilateral relations

4.     The Czech Republic is Singapore’s 13^th largest EU goods trading partner. In 2022, goods traded between our countries amounted to S$1.5 billion. We would like to grow this further. We share a common goal of promoting economic growth and creating a business-friendly environment for both local and international companies.

5.     Singapore and the Czech Republic are also party to the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (EUSIPA). As the first trade and investment agreements between the EU and an ASEAN Member State, these agreements reflect our countries’ shared commitment to an open, rules-based multilateral trading system. 

6.     We encourage our companies to leverage the benefits of these agreements, such as tariff elimination and reduced trade barriers. 

7.     On the transport side, the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement – the world’s first bloc-to-bloc air services agreement – was signed in October 2022, opening up more opportunities for air connectivity between Singapore and the Czech Republic. Earlier when I met with Minister Kupka, we were talking about the possibilities of having a direct flight between Prague and Singapore. That would depend on all of you, to increase the business and trade relations between Czech Republic and Singapore, which would influence airlines’ decision on whether or not it is commercially viable to have direct flights. This is something we would want to work towards.

Expanding Czech-Singapore cooperation

8.     There are many business opportunities for Singaporean and Czech companies to invest in each other’s markets, and through this expand into Asia or into Central and Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic has much to offer Singapore businesses. These include projects and programmes under the Czech Republic’s Industry 4.0 initiative and the Innovation Strategy for 2019 – 2030, to further advance the Czech Republic’s economy and society in areas such as digitialisation, manufacturing, research and development, supply chain management and more. 

9.     Given its strategic location at the heart of Europe, the Czech Republic serves as a gateway to the fast-growing and emerging Central and Eastern European markets.

10.    The Czech Republic is also home to many successful companies in sectors such as automotive, information technology (IT) and engineering. Many of us in Singapore are familiar with the brand Skoda. Skoda cars are known to be well-built and comfortable to drive, including the new electric SUV Skoda Enyaq which has a range of more than 500km. I look forward to its launch in Singapore later this year. 

11.    For our friends from the Czech Republic, I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities that Singapore has to offer, as well as our position as a trusted and well-connected hub in Asia for business, transport, finance and innovation. Singapore serves as a nerve centre for corporate HQs and a launch pad into Southeast Asia and to the wider Asia-Pacific region.  We also have a well-trained and highly-skilled workforce, comprising a core of local workers complemented by workers from abroad.  

12.    According to the Economic Intelligence Unit’s business environment rankings for the fourth quarter of 2022, Singapore remains the best place in the world to do business in the next five years^[1]. We therefore welcome and support the continued presence and activities of the Czech-Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the CzechTrade and CzechInvest office, as well as the other 80 over Czech companies in Singapore. We hope that with the Czech-Singapore Business Forum and with our enhanced interactions, this number can also grow over time. We invite more Czech companies to make Singapore your home in the region. 

13.    Singapore and the Czech Republic each offer unique strengths and opportunities, and our businesses and people have much to learn from one another. We share similar outlooks, as small and export-oriented trading economies, and we face common challenges ahead. 

14.    Bilateral and multilateral cooperation is paramount in managing the global impact on trade and supply chains, to build resilience, to mitigate the risks of global pandemics and the impact of climate change. These were some of the topics I had the chance to discuss with Minister Kupka earlier. We also recognised that it would be important to find solutions to tackle these challenges, by harnessing and promoting innovation, trade and digitalisation. 

Conclusion

15.    In closing, I would like to wish participants in this business forum meaningful discussions, and Your Excellencies and our Czech Republic guests an enjoyable visit to Singapore. I understand for some of you it is your first visit to Singapore. I certainly hope that you would come back again, be it for business or holiday. I hope you will also take the opportunity to visit other cities in Southeast Asia from Singapore. In a way, this is what Singapore represents; a key node and a hub in the region, for business, investments and leisure. I look forward to further strengthening our bilateral relations in the years to come. 

16.    Let me end by wishing everyone courage and good fortune, along the lines of a Czech proverb that translates into English as “fortune favours the brave”. 

17.    Thank you.

_{^[1] EIU report 23 November 2022, www.eiu.com}