PUTRAJAYA: The strong bilateral ties between Singapore and Malaysia serve as a vital foundation for a stronger, more united ASEAN capable of navigating intensifying geopolitical rivalries, said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after the 11th Leaders’ Retreat today, Wong underscored the importance of leveraging Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship this year to strengthen regional cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.
“Singapore fully supports Malaysia’s chairmanship of ASEAN. We think it is going to be more important now than ever before for ASEAN to be strong, integrated and united, because the greater competition we face is not within ASEAN, but from outside the region.
“Everyone is trying to anchor major projects now in today’s world, where big economies are all talking about reshoring, on-shoring, near-shoring. They want the key projects to be nearer to their home economies. So ASEAN has to come together, look at ways in which we can enhance our value proposition and be competitive together,” he said.
Wong also emphasised the significance of ongoing collaborative projects, including the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) and the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, as pivotal steps toward integrated ASEAN.
“Where ASEAN is concerned, we are talking about not just more trade and investment linkages, but infrastructure linkages including the ASEAN Power Grid. These are all good projects that Singapore will support and we hope under Malaysia’s leadership, we can make good progress on these projects,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Wong’s sentiment was shared by Anwar who emphasised the need for ASEAN countries to unite in facing unpredictable global political and economic challenges, while also advocating for deeper bilateral and regional collaboration to harness complementary strengths.
“Singapore has its strength vis-à-vis some other countries. Why can’t we work as a team to complement one another? To predict the future is very difficult but at least we take adequate measures to strengthen and consolidate our own strength nationally and bilaterally between the two countries, and more so with ASEAN.
“In my exchanges with (other) ASEAN leaders, I can sense this new spirit. Now, we have to strengthen ourselves as a regional force to be able to withstand the unpredictable pressures from other areas, groups or regions. We hope that we should collaborate instead of talking about contentious divisions and tensions,” he said.
Therefore, Anwar said the focus should be more in terms of ASEAN Energy Grid, digital connectivity and enhancing intra-trade and investments within the region, which has been unfortunately lacking.
“We have been successful in many areas, and I think we should commend the contributions of past leaders, but I think the new focus is now mainly on the importance of strengthening our economic fundamentals as a region and strategic position vis-a-vis the new players in the new uncertain geopolitical demands and dictates,” he added.
