DPM Gan Kim Yong at the Singapore – Hong Kong Business Roundtable

The Honourable Algernon Yau, Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Ms Agnes Chan, Chairperson of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce

Mr Lim Ming Yan, Chairperson of the Singapore Business Federation

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Good morning. It is a great pleasure for me to join you today at the Singapore-Hong Kong Business Roundtable.

This roundtable is taking place amidst a number of significant structural shifts around the world, with major implications for both our businesses and economies.

On one hand, the global rules-based economic order is being reshaped by national interests through protectionist measures such as trade barriers and investment screening and controls. This will greatly impact hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, which have benefitted from the free and open cross-border flow of goods, investments and people.

On the other hand, shifts in global production and supply chains will also open up new trade and capital flows that both Singapore and Hong Kong are well placed to benefit from as business and financial hubs.

At the same time, rapid advancements in technology, such as in AI and quantum computing, will create new growth areas in the digital economy, as well as opportunities to transform our financial and trading clusters.

Both Singapore and Hong Kong can also facilitate the transition of our region towards a low-carbon future through carbon markets and trading, and in turn benefit from opportunities in the green economy.

These shifts I have outlined present opportunities not only for our respective economies but also for both Singapore and Hong Kong to collaborate and deepen our ties.

Over the last two decades, bilateral trade grew by more than 60% to reach over US$50 billion in 2023. Today, we are among each other’s top 5 trading partners.

Singapore hosts a diverse array of Hong Kong companies, such as Kerry Logistics, Klook, and Watsons. Likewise, many Singapore companies have expanded to Hong Kong; among them are Surbana Jurong, Keppel and Yeo Hiap Seng, who are here with us today.

We are both regional hubs connecting Asia to the world, and we share many common interests in advocating for a free, open and rules-based global economic order.

Hong Kong is a key gateway to China, strategically located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, one of China’s most important economic and technological zones with a GDP of around US$2 trillion in 2023.

Singapore, on the other hand, is at the heart of Southeast Asia, and is a gateway to the fast-growing region – in particular, ASEAN – and ASEAN is projected to become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030.

By collaborating with each other to expand economic linkages between China and the Southeast Asia region, we can grow the economic pie and ride the wave of the region’s continued prosperity.

The topics of today’s roundtable — digital finance, supply chains, climate change, and innovation and entrepreneurship — are aligned to the key shifts I had outlined earlier that Hong Kong and Singapore will have to navigate in the years ahead.

From digital trade and payments, to digital currencies and fintech, digital finance is growing rapidly, driven by advances in blockchain and cloud computing. This opens up new customer segments and products for businesses, but also presents new cybersecurity risks that businesses have to ensure that you can address.

Next, as shipping and aviation hubs, many of our businesses play a key role in global supply chains. The disruptions over the past few years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as subsequent geopolitical conflicts in many parts of the world, have underscored the importance of supply chain resilience. Through digitalisation and AI, businesses can not only acquire greater end-to-end supply chain visibility, but also the ability to better pre-empt and manage disruptions in the future.

As financial hubs, both Singapore and Hong Kong can facilitate our region’s net zero commitments through green and transition financing. In this regard, enhancing the interoperability of green taxonomies and providing greater clarity on what constitutes sustainable and transition activities will help to catalyse green financing.

Lastly, as advanced economies, we both face the same challenge of a rapidly ageing resident workforce. We must therefore drive innovation and entrepreneurship to raise productivity and boost the growth of our economies. In doing so, we must find ways to better harness frontier technologies, whether in robotics or quantum.

Through today’s roundtable, I hope our businesses will gain insights on the opportunities that lie ahead, build new networks with fellow business leaders, and explore new opportunities for growth and partnerships.

I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very fruitful conference ahead of you. Thank you.