Speech by Acting Minister for Transport, Mr Chee Hong Tat at Dutch Chamber of Commerce’s Winsemius Awards 2023

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1.     Good evening. I am delighted to join you tonight as we celebrate the strong business ties and long-lasting friendship between the Netherlands and Singapore. 

The Winsemius Awards 

2.     Earlier, I had the chance to see the awards being given out to some of the winners. If I can describe what they have done, it is to not just do well but also to do good, and in the words of Ambassador Anneke Adema, to do so together. That is the spirit that has allowed both Netherlands and Singapore to continue with this partnership and to allow people and our companies to work together and to achieve more together. 

3.     I am very grateful for this opportunity to be here to join you and to be able to honour Dr. Albert Winsemius, who played an instrumental role in Singapore's development as our economic adviser for more than two decades, and gave invaluable advice to Singapore's founding leaders including Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, and Dr. Goh Keng Swee. Dr. Winsemius also contributed significantly to the strong ties that we enjoy today between the Netherlands and Singapore. 

Strengthening meaningful connections through sustainability

4.     The focus for this year’s event is “Strengthening meaningful connections between the Netherlands and Singapore through sustainability”. This focus on sustainability is what both our countries share because it reflects a certain social value that we have in common – that we are not just doing what is good for the current generation, but we also believe in leaving behind a better future for the next generation. This is what our forefathers have done for us, and it is what I hope we can continue to do for our children and our grandchildren, so that every generation can continue to lead meaningful lives, a better life, and build on what the previous generations have left behind and take it further. 

5.     This focus on sustainability is also very timely because this is what we need to do now to protect the living environment. At the Ministry of Transport, we work closely with the Netherlands and our Dutch businesses here to embark on many sustainability-related initiatives. 

6.    This includes what we do in the maritime sector. For example, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port of Rotterdam in August last year to establish a Green and Digital Shipping Corridor. Both port authorities and over 20 stakeholders have been working closely to operationalise the corridor and are looking into the deployment of various types of zero or near-zero greenhouse gas emission fuels arising from this corridor. 

7.     Another example is Vopak. Vopak worked in collaboration with Maersk and Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd to enable the world’s first ship-to-containership methanol bunkering operation in Singapore in July this year. Maersk’s container vessel was successfully refuelled by Hong Lam Marine’s bunker with approximately 300 metric tonnes of bio-methanol that was stored at Vopak’s terminals. This is a pilot, but it gave us the experience and the confidence that in future, we are able to scale up and prepare for a multifuel future for international shipping. 

8.     We welcome more of such partnerships and initiatives where our countries can work on and identify new solutions for a sustainable future together.

Celebrating and strengthening our strong economic relations 

9.     This partnership that we have between Singapore and Netherlands has been built based on trust. This partnership, as Ambassador mentioned earlier, was first established from the rapport and friendship between Dr Winsemius and our founding leaders. Over the years, all of you have played a part. Both Singapore and Dutch businesses and people, all of us, have contributed to this in one way or another. 

10.    I hope this can continue, especially with our younger generation – that they will continue to build on these connections and to have exchanges, study visits and learning visits, so that we can expose our young people. This includes having  young people from the Netherlands to learn more about Singapore and Southeast Asia, as well as young people from Singapore to spend time in the Netherlands through exchange programmes and internships, to learn more about the Netherlands and opportunities in the EU. I think that will be very beneficial. 

11.    This is what I hope can support the multilateral and bilateral agreements that we have signed in various areas, including the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement - you need to be able to achieve benefits and outcomes, to get businesses and people to work together, using the agreement as a framework to catalyse and enable more of such collaborations, trade and investments. 

12.    That is the second area where I think the Netherlands and Singapore share common values. The first area, as I mentioned earlier, was the focus on the future, not just on the here and now, but to think long-term and to plan and be ready for the future. This is why we focus on being ready – whether it is to deal with the rising sea levels, food security or sustainability. 

13.    The second area where I believe we share this common value is our belief in an open, multilateral, rules-based international system. I fully agree with Ambassador that in the current environment, this has become even more important. We see worrying signs of some countries starting to turn inwards, rejecting things that come from abroad such as ideas or talent. I think that is a move in the wrong direction. We have so many common challenges, whether it is to deal with sustainability, climate change, or the next pandemic, that I think we need to work together even more and not isolate ourselves, but to link ourselves up so that we are able to benefit from the collaborations and the inter-linkages. 

14.    This is why we hope that with the Free Trade Agreement and what we have signed with the EU in the area of digital trade, that we are able to also encourage more of such activities and collaborations between our businesses and our people. 

15.    Let me turn to my final point before I conclude. I've covered two areas where I believe we have common values. The third area where I think we share this as well, is that we believe that when we encounter difficulties and challenges, we do not give up. Singapore and Netherlands are both relatively small countries with relatively smaller populations. As such, we have a lot of challenges that we encounter respectively. 

16.    However, rather than to just give up, or to say that there is nothing that we can do, I think what has been a very common characteristic that we share is that we have a “Never Say Die” attitude. We do not let our challenges overwhelm us, but will overcome the challenges by innovation and working together to find a way to have a breakthrough. 

17.    I think that remains very crucial as we move forward. The spirit of how to build consensus and collaboration, in the case of the Netherlands, for example, your system of managing the anti-flood measures requires everyone to work together. It is the same for rising sea levels and climate change; it is not a problem that any single country can solve alone. You have to work together, as if the sea levels were to rise, it would become a global problem and would require global collaboration and solutions. This approach of building trust, consensus and collaboration is also something that I think we share, working together and helping to expand the range of options and resources that we have, not to have a zero-sum mentality, but try to look for win-win outcomes where possible. 

Conclusion

18.    As we share so many common values and have a long history of friendship and partnership, I hope that we can continue to build on this, and encourage our young people and businesses to continue to work together and take our bilateral relations to the next level.

19.    Let me conclude by extending my congratulations once again to all award winners tonight. I hope that your good work will inspire others and I look forward to many more beneficial partnerships that are win-win, and collaborations between our two countries, companies and our people. Thank you.