9th ASEAN Connectivity Symposium – Towards Effective Implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, Thursday, 6 September 2018, Mandarin Orchard Hotel Singapore - Welcome Remarks

Welcome Remarks by Ambassador Tan Hung Seng Singapore’s Permanent Representative to ASEAN and Chairman of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee 

9th ASEAN Connectivity Symposium – Towards Effective Implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, Thursday, 6 September 2018, Mandarin Orchard Hotel Singapore

A very good morning Excellencies,
My fellow ACCC Members,
Ambassadors of Dialogue Partner Countries,
President of the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1      It gives me great pleasure to warmly welcome everyone to the 9th ASEAN Connectivity Symposium, and to Singapore.  The ASEAN Connectivity Symposium began in 2010. Its goal is bringing together public and private sectors, as well as other stake-holders such as ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners, to exchange views on how we can advance the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity or MPAC.  Essentially, it is intended to be a platform to enhance two-way communication between the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee or the ACCC and relevant stakeholders like every one of you here. It is also an opportunity to update ASEAN’s external stakeholders concerning the status of the implementation of MPAC 2025 initiatives and projects.  This process is crucial, since Connectivity is a cross-pillar, cross-sectoral undertaking that requires the buy-in of all three ASEAN Community Pillars, ASEAN’s external partners, the private sector, and multilateral development institutions.

2      The theme of this year’s Symposium is, “Towards Effective Implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025”.  Allow me to use the next five minutes to dissect this year’s theme by addressing two key questions.  One, what are the goals of MPAC 2025? And Two, what are we doing to ensure the “effective implementation” of MPAC 2025?

3      So, What are the goals of MPAC 2025?  In a nutshell, MPAC 2025 is a long-term road-map to guide ASEAN Member States in our efforts to achieve a seamlessly connected region.  Enhancing ASEAN Connectivity in all three dimensions, namely, physical, institutional and people-to-people, is a critical enabler if we wish to realise our goal of establishing an integrated ASEAN Community.  Simply put, how can we talk credibly of an ASEAN Community if there are not enough roads, airports and sea ports to enable ASEAN citizens to travel easily from one country to another?  Or when ASEAN citizens must deal with tedious and time-consuming customs, immigration and quarantine procedures when travelling between ASEAN countries?  In sum, we cannot achieve an ASEAN Community if we do not do more to break down barriers that discourage greater people-to-people interactions.

4      ASEAN Connectivity has assumed even greater importance in the face of today’s rapidly evolving global and regional environment.  Let me just highlight two trends that will impact ASEAN Connectivity.  First, the rise of the consuming class, which is expected to double from 81 million households in 2014 to 163 million households in 2030 .  This potentially drastic consumption shift is expected to boost intra-ASEAN trade and tourism, which in turn will provide the impetus for ASEAN to improve our logistics competitiveness and ease travel restrictions.  Second, technology is transforming global flows.  Digital flows, which were almost non-existent 15 years ago, have exploded and the amount of cross-border bandwidth that is used has grown 45 times since 2005.  It is expected to grow by an additional 9 times over the next 5 years as flows of information, searches, communication, video, transactions, and other traffic continue to surge . In short, our collective efforts to strengthen ASEAN Connectivity has become even more critical and urgent than ever before.

5      Let me make three points with regard to the second question, “What are we doing to ensure the effective implementation of MPAC 2025?”. To begin with, the ACCC was determined that MPAC 2025 should not become the proverbial “Christmas tree” which everybody uses to hang our favourite ornaments.  Hence, the ACCC took a different approach and appointed an external consultant, they are sitting right there, AlphaBeta, with generous support from Australia, to formulate MPAC 2025.  The outcome is MPAC 2025, which has well-defined focus and targets. So, unlike MPAC 2010, which ambitiously identified 125 measures, MPAC 2025 has only 15 Initiatives under 5 Strategic Objectives. More importantly, MPAC 2025 has clear governance and ownership, whereby there is a clear implementing body for every one of the 15 Initiatives.

6      Second, we have put in place a robust performance management system, which is data-driven, fact-based and provides regular feedback. In this context, I am pleased to inform you that we have just concluded the inaugural Monitoring, Review, and Evaluation (MRE) Meeting yesterday.  It was a privilege for me to chair the meeting, which involved the ACCC, representatives from relevant sectoral bodies and Lead Implementing Bodies of the various Initiatives. We also took stock of project implementation, discussed challenges and brain-stormed the way forward on cross-sectoral, cross-Pillar projects.  Through the Monitoring, Review, and Evaluation Meeting, we hope to ensure that problems are identified and flagged at an early stage, so that we can work to remove these road-blocks.  The ASEAN Secretariat will elaborate more on the outcomes of this meeting during the first session of the Symposium.

7      Third, we have stepped up proactive stake-holder engagement, which is an extremely important ingredient to ensure the effective implementation of MPAC 2025.  In this context, today’s Symposium represents one of the ACCC’s efforts to cultivate relationships with all our key stakeholders.  We want to keep you updated of the delivery efforts and progress in implementing MPAC 2025. More importantly, we want to hear from your concerns and tap into your experience and expertise.  Let me take this opportunity to reiterate our deep appreciation for the excellent support that ASEAN has received from our External partners and other key stake-holders in our quest to enhance ASEAN Connectivity.

8      Given that achieving ASEAN Connectivity is a multi-year and cross-sectoral exercise, I have often used the analogy of a triathlon to encourage our partners and stake-holders to take a long-term view and to temper expectations for quick results.  In fact, this year’s Symposium marks the beginning of the first phase of the implementation of MPAC 2025. We wish to highlight three deliverables that Singapore has identified for our Chairmanship of the ACCC, namely, (i) the establishment of an initial rolling priority pipeline of infrastructure projects; (ii) development of an ASEAN sustainable urbanisation strategy; and (iii) a review of the adoption of digital technology by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. We will share more details concerning these three deliverables with you, and we hope to receive your feedback and support.

9      Finally, before I close, I would like to thank Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia, for the Institute’s steadfast support for ASEAN’s Connectivity efforts in general, and the ASEAN Connectivity Symposium in particular.  I would also like to express my appreciation to the ASEAN Secretariat, particularly Director Lim Chze Cheen and his team for their hard work, and of course, I must thank the distinguished line-up of speakers and moderators today for taking the time and making the effort to join today’s Symposium.  It leaves me to wish everyone a fruitful discussion at today’s Symposium and an enjoyable stay in Singapore.

Thank you.

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[1] Southeast Asia at the Crossroads: Three Paths to Prosperity, McKinsey Global Institute, November 2014.

[2] Digital Globalisation: The New Era of Global Flows, McKinsey Global Institute, February 2016.