Singapore must prepare for a US retreat from Asia

I refer to the report “Tharman warns on American retreat from Asia” (Oct 24, online) and agree with Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Both United States presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not giving priority to boosting ties with Asia in their election rhetoric.

And since Singapore is export-oriented, we must continue to place importance on trade within South-East Asia, and even the United Kingdom.

Singapore could also engage more with the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and continue pursuing free-trade agreements to ensure our pipeline of international trade will not be clogged and to pre-empt future threats of unemployment.