Singapore's Relations with Australia

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) what is the Ministry's assessment of the impact on Singapore with the recent release of "Australia in the Asian Century" White Paper; (b) if he can provide an update on Australia-Singapore bilateral ties and economic cooperation; and (c) how Singapore will capitalise on this opportunity to deepen ties with Australia so as to further our national interest.

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Let me first start with a broad overview of our bilateral ties and economic cooperation with Australia.

Singapore enjoys a longstanding and close bilateral relationship with Australia. This is underpinned by substantive cooperation across many fronts, particularly defence, economic and people-to-people ties. We share many similar interests and a convergent strategic outlook. We have had a good exchange of high-level visits this year, including those by Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Prime Minister Julia Gillard in March and April respectively, and Prime Minister Lee's visit to Australia last month. In September, Ministers Lim Hng Kiang and Ng Eng Hen and I had a useful exchange of views with our counterparts in Canberra under the 7th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee (SAJMC). In addition, the Australia-Singapore Public Service Roundtable has now been institutionalised after the 2nd Roundtable was held in Canberra just a week prior to the SAJMC. There are still many areas in which we can cooperate and both sides are committed to exploring them to deepen our already strong relationship.

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Australia is a key economic partner for Singapore and bilateral economic ties are growing. Australia was Singapore's 12th largest trading partner in 2011. Singapore is Australia's largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN and its 5th largest trading partner. Two-way investment is growing. Singapore was the 4th largest foreign investor in Australia in 2011, while there are now 2,100 Australian companies in Singapore. Singapore receives close to a million visitors from Australia each year while more than 300,000 Singaporeans travel to Australia annually. Our people-to-people ties continue to flourish, with more than 50,000 Singaporeans in Australia and more than 20,000 Australians in Singapore.

The recently-released White Paper on "Australia in the Asian Century" is a welcome and timely report which reaffirms Australia's commitment to Asia. It outlines Australia's security and economic interests in the context of developments in Asia and lays out a comprehensive vision for Australia to seize the opportunities in the region. While Australia is addressing the question of its geography and history with Asia, on the ground, Australia already has a very active presence in Asia. The paper is, thus, a good attempt to conceptualise where Australia stands in the region. We particularly welcome the fact that the White Paper specifically states Australia's interest to engage "active regional powers", such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines and Australia's strong desire to strengthen relations with ASEAN and its decision to appoint an Ambassador to ASEAN based in Jakarta.

One of the key pillars in the White Paper is the strengthening of Australia's relationships across the region at every level – political, economic, social, cultural and people-to-people links. There is already visible progress in these areas:

On the political front, Prime Minister Lee and Prime Minister Gillard have agreed to meet regularly; our Defence Ministers have also agreed to hold annual meetings. This is in addition to the various dialogue mechanisms that are already in place at the government-to-government level.

The White Paper has also called on Australian companies to develop collaborative relationships with Asian markets. As our economic account continues to grow, I am confident that more Australian businesses will consider using Singapore as a base to access the region, as our private sector also looks for opportunities in Australia.

In addition, Prime Minister Lee has conveyed to Prime Minister Gillard that we look forward to reviewing the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) to keep pace with changes in the global economy, when Australia is ready.

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Given the good collaboration between our educational institutions, there is further opportunity for growth as the White Paper has identified Singapore as one of the Asian countries from whom they can learn, especially in their efforts to become more "Asia-literate".

Lastly, the White Paper has suggested the need to ensure "sustainable security" by supporting a bigger role for Asian countries in a rules-based regional and global order. Singapore fully agrees with the sentiment and will continue to work closely with Australia in various regional fora, such as the EAS, ARF and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus, to promote an open and inclusive regional architecture. We will also continue to cooperate in other fora, such as the UN, WTO, IMF, G20, ASEM and APEC.

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