Remarks by President Halimah Yacob at the Tea Reception with Singaporean and Malaysian Business Representatives

Dato’ Rohana Tan Sri Mahmood, Director, Kuala Lumpur Business Club

Dr Maliki Osman, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs

Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Culture, Community, and Youth 

High Commissioner Vanu Gopala Menon,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. I am very happy to join all of you at this reception hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Business Club during my State Visit to Malaysia at the invitation of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

Given our geography and shared history, economic collaboration between Singapore and Malaysia has naturally been a key pillar of our strong and substantive bilateral relationship. The reality is that our economies are deeply interdependent. The COVID-19 pandemic showed clearly the extent of this. Even amidst such challenging and unprecedented circumstances, we knew that we had to keep our economies connected. As many of you know, our countries worked closely together to keep our supply chains open, facilitate essential travel, and gradually reopen our borders.

In fact, this close partnership has yielded fruits for both sides, and our economic relationship has scaled new heights despite the pandemic. In 2022, Singapore and Malaysia continued to be each other’s second largest trading partner, with our bilateral trade growing by 18.9 per cent to reach S$153 billion. Our bilateral investment ties remain robust – when looking at stock investments, Singapore remains Malaysia’s top foreign investor in 2022, while Singapore remains Malaysia’s top investment destination.

Beyond these impressive figures, what makes our economic partnership special are the deep and varied links forged by our Small and Medium Enterprises, start-ups, and corporations. Both sides have also stepped up collaboration in the rapidly burgeoning fintech sector. I was happy to learn that Singapore companies Grab, Singtel, and SEA Group were awarded digital bank licenses by Bank Negara Malaysia last year. I was also happy to hear that Ninjavan, which started its operations in Malaysia in 2015, had launched its largest warehouse in Shah Alam last year as its shipment volume saw close to double of pre-pandemic volumes. The presence of some of these companies at today’s reception is a testament to the strength of our economic ties, which extend beyond the government-to-government level to include flourishing partnerships between our business communities.

Importantly, our two countries have not rested on our laurels. Instead, we have actively diversified our collaboration into new and emerging sectors. During Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Singapore in January, three MOUs to bolster cooperation in cybersecurity and the digital and green economies were signed. As our businesses and economies become more digitally interlinked, we need to develop the systems and standards to facilitate the secure flow of data, trade, and payments across borders. This is essential to maintaining the public’s trust to transact online. Besides accelerating digitisation, another key trend altering consumer habits, business practices, and regulatory priorities is decarbonisation.

Working closely together on these and other areas will enable Singapore and Malaysia to better navigate the choppier economic waters ahead and ensure that here in Southeast Asia, we remain two bright spots – open to global technologies, talents, and investments. Most economies in Southeast Asia have continued to grow, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As a region with a large number of youths, there are many opportunities in the areas that we have discussed, such as digitalization, sustainability as well as renewable energy. 

I was in Vietnam last year – Vietnam has a vast coastline of 3600km, which has an immense potential to generate large amounts of renewable energy that is very much needed by the region. If we are able to develop an ASEAN Power Grid, this would represent tremendous opportunities for the region. Singapore currently imports renewable energy, though in small proportions. The energy goes through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia before reaching Singapore. We need to see how we can expand this. I believe that the private sector is in the best position to utilise the resources, expertise, capabilities available to make this work in the region.

At the same time, we need to ensure that our peoples benefit from the fruits of free trade, greater digitalisation, and sustainable development. We must not assume that our societies are immune to the kind of forces which have fuelled isolationist and anti-globalisation sentiments elsewhere. This will continue to grow, particularly with how Covid-19 has exposed wealth and income disparities, both within and amongst countries. We need to be mindful of this, even as we pursue our business interests.

In closing, I would encourage all of you to continue to expand your networks across the Causeway and explore opportunities for further collaboration, especially in areas which both countries have complementary strengths. I therefore look forward to hearing your perspectives about the opportunities and challenges which businesses in our two countries face and how our countries and businesses can continue working together.  Thank you.