Edited Transcript of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s Remarks at IBM’s Think ASEAN

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan attended IBM’s Think ASEAN conference on 8 May 2018 and witnessed the signing of two MOUs - one between IBM and AI Singapore, and the other between IBM and Temasek Polytechnic. Such partnerships symbolise the collective commitment of both the public and private sectors to embrace the digital revolution. He also shared the three key outcomes of the 32^nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore.  “We have to look for open standards, open source, and interconnectivity; and learning how to share and yet gain competitive advantage. So these new models for cooperation, competition and sharing - something I think we are just feeling our way through, but we need to evolve. If we can do this, then certainly from the point-of-view of Singapore as a city state - as one of the most hyper-connected nodes in a global network, and with a hyper-educated and motivated population - that gives us a second wind for our sails in this digital revolution. And because Singapore is in the centre of Southeast Asia, we want to use this position to enable, empower and collaborate with our neighbours in ASEAN. That gives ASEAN a chance to captialise on our already significant advantages of size, of a population in which 60% are below the age of 35, of the ability in the next 20 to 30 years to invest in infrastructure - certaintly in digital infrastructure, to make ASEAN a leading region in the world. Then, by bringing down barriers, ensuring interoperability and sharing, we will achieve win-win paradigms both politically and economically.” – FM Vivian Balakrishnan.  Read the full transcript of FM’s speech here.