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To realise its promise, Asia must create conditions for peace, security and continued prosperity: PM Lee

2023-10-05 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – For Asia to realise the promise it holds despite difficulties such as geopolitical tensions and growing protectionism, its countries must prioritise cooperation while ensuring the stability of their own societies, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday.

Asian countries have agency, and if they can make the right choices, they can create the conditions for peace, security and continued prosperity, he said.

For Singapore, amid this challenging international environment, it is all the more important to look to the future, he added.

Speaking at the end of the two-day Asia Future Summit organised by SPH Media, PM Lee noted that Singapore is preparing for leadership transition, as a new team looks to bring the Republic into the next bound.

He said the younger leaders are developing a substantive national agenda under the nationwide engagement exercise Forward Singapore to build a more resilient and united nation.

The country is also looking outward, working with its Asean and international partners to support deeper regional integration and multilateralism, he added.

“We are doing all these so that we can set the right conditions and create opportunities for our next generation,” said PM Lee, addressing about 300 conference participants at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel.

The summit, which featured speakers including Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and former Australian prime minister John Howard, covered topics such as finding balance amid geopolitical tensions, and forging new paths amid societal shifts.

On Thursday, PM Lee noted that Asia as a region is vibrant and has great promise.

“But to realise Asia’s promise, we need the right conditions,” he said, pointing out that for the past few decades, Asia has been fortunate to enjoy a peaceful, stable and increasingly globalised environment.

The global and regional stability has been critical to the region’s dynamism and prosperity, he said.

“We hope that the decades ahead will see peace prevailing and economic progress continuing in Asia. But this is far from guaranteed. The future depends on the choices that we make.”

SPH Media is 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.

First, Asia needs to uphold and reinforce the open and inclusive regional architecture, said PM Lee.

Many Asian countries recognise the importance of the major powers having stakes in and contributing to the region’s stability and development, he noted.

Hence, Asean has long sought to build a dense web of cooperation and interdependence, with overlapping circles of friends, he added.

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Second, there needs to be deepened regional economic integration, he said. Examples of this include the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which covers 30 per cent of global gross domestic product, as well as economic cooperation frameworks like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“The third precondition is that individual countries need to manage our own internal social and political developments, to create stable societies and states that can contribute to the prosperity of Asia, and have governments with the mandate to pursue regional cooperation,” said PM Lee.

He cited Myanmar as an example of how domestic troubles can hold back regional cooperation and lead to difficulties for a country’s neighbours.

“But for every country, domestic stability is a precondition for effective external collaboration, and domestic political function, not dysfunction, is equally necessary,” he said.

“International relations are vital to the security and prosperity of a country, but a country’s foreign policy always depends on supportive domestic politics.”

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