Singapore: Senior Minister Lee urges Australia to deepen ties with ASEAN — Channel NewsAsia

Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged Australia to deepen its economic, security and people-to-people ties with Southeast Asian countries. During the ABC Boyer Lecture Series on November 8, he said closer engagement with the region would strengthen Australia’s competitiveness and resilience in an increasingly fragmented world, Channel NewsAsia reports.

Lee noted that Australia is not a Southeast Asian country, but should be a close partner of ASEAN. According to him, rivalry among major powers is intensifying, while the multilateral system is weakening. He also pointed out that the United States is reassessing its global role in security and trade, while China’s strategic and economic influence is growing.

Security cooperation

The Senior Minister called on Australia to maintain an active presence in Asia and develop partnerships with countries that share similar approaches. He stressed the importance of maintaining pragmatic working contacts and communication channels between armed forces, in particular to avoid miscalculations and incidents.

In Lee’s view, Australia has the diplomatic weight, economic resources and long-standing ties in the region to help countries create practical mechanisms for cooperation in trade, pandemic preparedness and climate change mitigation. He also mentioned Canberra’s role in establishing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Investment and people-to-people ties

Lee urged Australian businesses to invest more in ASEAN countries. He noted that Australia’s trade with Southeast Asia is growing, but its investment presence there is more modest: Australia invests no more in all ASEAN countries combined than it does in New Zealand. He named critical minerals, agribusiness, renewable energy, digital technologies and deep tech as promising areas.

Separately, the Singaporean official stressed the need to strengthen people-to-people ties through education programmes and migration. He recalled that people born abroad account for one-third of Australia’s residents, including around 70,000 people from Singapore.

Source: UA News