Speech by Acting Minister for Transport Mr Chee Hong Tat at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, High-Level Forum on Connectivity Themed “Connectivity in an Open Global Economy” in Beijing, China

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

1.     Global connectivity is critical for international trade, economic growth and people-to-people linkages. Transport is a key enabler for better connectivity, and we must continually develop and upgrade our infrastructure, capabilities, and workforce. 

2.     Today, I will highlight 3 key areas: resilience, sustainability, and long-term planning.

Resilience

3.     COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us about the importance of supply chain resilience. As a trading nation, air hub and sea port, Singapore believes the way to achieve resilience is to diversify our trade links and enhance inter-dependence and mutually-beneficial cooperation.  

4.     This is why Singapore has been an early and strong supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative.  The values which underpin the Initiative are in line with our objectives of developing an open, multilateral and rules-based system to strengthen global supply chains, and create win-win outcomes for all stakeholders. 

Sustainability 

5.     Besides resilience, our supply chains and connectivity options must also be more environmentally sustainable.

6.     Like many countries, Singapore is investing in sustainable transport technologies and solutions, such as improvements in energy efficiency, adoption of cleaner fuels and energy sources, and the electrification of vehicles and harbour craft within our waters. 

7.     Some of these solutions are already commercially viable, and can translate into lower business costs and reduced carbon emissions. The challenge is to scale up their adoption as quickly as possible. Other solutions are work in progress and require further research and development.  

8.     There is scope for greater international collaboration, including through the Belt and Road Initiative, to speed up technological advancement, develop supporting infrastructure to scale up adoption and invest in training of workers to prepare them for the energy transition.  

Long-term Planning

9.     As leaders in Government, we are custodians for our people, both the current generation and future generations. What we do today will have an impact on our children and grandchildren. We must plan long-term and start to invest now if we want to leave them a better future than what we have inherited from our forefathers.

10.    Besides training our people with future-ready skills through education and lifelong learning, another important area is to identify suitable financing options to fund connectivity infrastructure and sustainable solutions. It is not enough to only depend on Government funding for these long-term investments. We need a combination of both public and private sector financing options.  

11.    The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a Finance for Net Zero Action Plan earlier this year, which goes beyond green financing to cover transition finance. As an international financial hub, Singapore will continue to partner global stakeholders to look for new ideas which can catalyse investments in South-East Asia and beyond, and facilitate access to private capital to complement public resources.  

12.    We believe this can be a win-win and financially sustainable approach, by maximising the amount of resources available to fund long-term investments while providing steady returns for investors.  

13.    Thank you very much.