S’pore can play bigger role in ASEAN

SINGAPORE — In a rising Asia, there is a bigger role that Singapore can play, including providing leadership and exporting technological and infrastructural services, academics said yesterday at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) 50th anniversary dinner.

During a panel discussion on the outlook for Singapore and other members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations in the next 50 years, SIIA Senior Research Fellow Parag Khanna noted that economic opportunities are coming to fruition because of regional integration.

However, most countries in the region are “under-investing” when it comes to infrastructure.

He pointed out that infrastructure should be the most important priority, especially as urbanisation accelerates. It can also lead to job creation and unlock more opportunities.

This is where Singapore can offer leadership and export its model, he said. “Singapore needs to export its technological and infrastructural services to other countries in the region. It’s not only ASEAN’s moment but Singapore’s moment as well,” he added.

Dr Khanna said it was time to see Singapore as an “unofficial capital” for finance, commerce and diplomacy of the ASEAN region.

During a short speech, Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam also suggested that Singapore could become more influential, as a possible “services centre” in the region.

Noting that Singapore is the third largest economy in ASEAN, he said: “As it gets more and more integrated, we need a place in ASEAN that’s going to be the services centre — provide logistics, administrative, accounting ... a whole suites of services. And there’s one place which can do that — obviously, Singapore.” But, he said, it cannot be done without developing an “active diplomatic footprint and an influential framework”.

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, who was the keynote speaker at the dinner, noted that many possibilities are in store for Singapore, as the region changes rapidly.

“We are no longer following Western models, but creating our own principles and agendas, forming our own communities and contributing to our own Asian regionalism,” she said.

“Asia is becoming increasingly influential on the world stage, with growing power in the world economy. Singapore and our partners in ASEAN are at the centre of these developments,” she added.

On what she saw as the next phase of “re-invention” for Singapore, she said that financial services will remain key. Nevertheless, she noted that the services sector is growing and Singapore should also continue to find a niche in manufacturing.

Yesterday, the SIIA held a soft launch of a new programme called Future 50, which aims to map out the 50-year future for Singapore in Asia and the world. It will look at geopolitics, social, environmental and other key trends. A report will be published in 2015.