DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Sweden Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2023

Mr Johan Forsell, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Sweden,
Mr Anders Sjoberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Singapore,
Mr Andrew Kwan, Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to Sweden,
Mr Jan Larsson, CEO, Business Sweden,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning and a very warm welcome to Singapore to Minister Forsell and his delegation. Welcome also to friends from around Asia who are joining us for today’s Sweden Indo-Pacific Business Summit with an important theme, “Green Transition, powered by Innovation”.

Even though Singapore and Sweden are almost 10,000 kilometres apart, it is remarkable that so many Swedish businesses have invested here and in the wider region.

In Singapore alone, almost 500 Swedish companies have established a presence over the years.

These include some household names to many Singaporeans today, like Ikea, Electrolux, and H&M.

Prominent Swedish citizens have also made notable contributions to Singapore’s growth story.

This includes Professor Bertil Andersson who was President of Nanyang Technological University from 2011 to 2017 and led NTU to strong international recognition.

I am also delighted to see Mr Marcus Wallenberg joining us today. Marcus served for many years on the Board of Temasek. Today, he continues to share his insights and experience as a member of the Temasek International Panel. Thank you, Marcus, for your many valued contributions!

That many Swedish businesses venture into markets far from home reflects the strong entrepreneurial spirit of your business leaders. Coming from a temperate climate, you are adventurous and bold enough to brave the heat of the tropics!

It also illustrates how Sweden, like Singapore, recognises the importance of globalisation and our role in a globalised world. Even though we are small states, size alone does not determine our economic growth and ambitions.

We can be active and constructive on the global stage in ways that bring value to us and the world.

By supporting a rules-based international economic order and nurturing globally minded enterprises, we can contribute to building global prosperity, uplift people both at home and abroad, and take care of our planet.

As we look to enhance global economic resilience in the coming years, I share the view of many that innovation, especially that powered by technology, will be critical.

In the past few years, we have seen a wave of new technological breakthroughs across sectors.

During the COVID pandemic, we saw how the rapid development of mRNA vaccines saved millions of lives.

More recently, the growing deployment of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence is transforming how we live and work.

Such advancements in science and technology can unlock new growth opportunities and address global challenges, across borders and regions.

Sweden and Singapore both appreciate the value of innovation and have invested in building capacity for innovation.

We are both ranked among the Top 5 most innovative economies on the 2023 Global Innovation Index.

In 2022, Singapore launched a pilot acceleration programme in Stockholm under the Global Innovation Alliance initiative to help promising Singapore startups scale internationally. This was our first such partnership in the Nordic region.

Since then, we have forged win-win partnerships through collaboration with Swedish enterprises and will implement a second run of the programme in 2024.

Such innovation is not only good for business and economic growth.

As we head into a more uncertain world, innovation will also help us tackle pressing global challenges and build a better future.

One such critical global challenge is climate change.

Climate change affects everyone across countries, regardless of size or geography.

Extreme weather events could also trigger broader social and economic disruptions.

Europe saw one of its warmest summers in 2023, with record temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius in some areas.

Here in Southeast Asia, climate change has notably intensified floods and typhoons. Singapore, as a low-lying island state, is particularly vulnerable to the threat of rising sea-levels.

Climate action, and making the green transition, is therefore more than just a priority.  It is essential for our survival – here in this region and globally.

Sweden, with the rest of the European Union, has launched the European Green Deal with the aim of making Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.

Here in Southeast Asia, nine countries have articulated net-zero goals by or around mid-century.

Singapore, on our part, has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with the public sector committing to net-zero by 2045, 5 years earlier.

Two years ago, we published the Singapore Green Plan 2030 charting ambitious and concrete targets to advance our national agenda on sustainable development.

The Green Plan recognises that any successful green transition must involve all stakeholders and leverage a range of policy tools and programmes.

We have boosted the adoption of electric vehicles and accelerated the transition of the use of cleaner and lower-carbon fuels for our maritime and aviation sectors.

We are also investing in building green skills in our workforce – such as carbon footprint management, and energy management and audit – to prepare them to pivot to a low-carbon future.

In 2019, Singapore also became the first country in Southeast Asia to implement a carbon tax.

We are raising this progressively in stages until 2030, to strengthen the price signal and impetus for businesses and individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.

Our carbon pricing trajectory will enhance the business case to invest in low-carbon solutions, helping businesses remain competitive in a low-carbon future.

The revenue collected from the carbon tax will be used to support decarbonisation efforts and the transition to a low-carbon economy, as well as cushion the impact on businesses and households.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, our central bank, is also supporting the mobilisation of green and transition finance to catalyse greater climate action in the region.

Two days ago at COP-28, MAS launched the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy, the first of its kind globally to comprehensively define transition activities across 8 focus sectors.

By providing an objective definition on whether economic activities are green or transition, taxonomies guide investors and financiers to channel capital responsibly.

This new Singapore-Asia Taxonomy will enable financing to flow to climate-friendly transition activities while minimising the risk of greenwashing.

MAS has also launched a Transition Credits Coalition, or TRACTION.

This will study the challenges and propose solutions to scale the early retirement of coal-fired power plants in Asia through high-integrity carbon credits.

I said earlier that innovation can help us address global challenges.

To support our R&D ambitions, Singapore has committed about S$25 billion between 2021 and 2025 to strengthen our research, innovation and enterprise capabilities.

A big part of this, complementing our green transition, is being channelled towards the urban solutions and sustainability domain.

Our universities and research institutes are studying low-carbon energy solutions like hydrogen, decarbonising the built environment, tackling urban heat, and sustainable agri-food production.

Some companies, partnering with our universities, have also set up various Corporate Labs pursuing market-relevant research in clean energy and sustainability solutions. Climate change also has a significant impact on human health. Many researchers and institutes in both Sweden and Singapore are also working on this.

The impact of such innovation and research can be amplified significantly through cross-border and cross-regional collaboration.

Singapore and Sweden are well-positioned to leverage strong frameworks of cooperation and deepen our linkages in this area.

The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, for instance, has added robustness to Singapore’s economic ties with Sweden.

Since the Free Trade Agreement entered into force in 2019, bilateral trade in goods has increased by nearly 25% and trade in services has risen by almost 50%.

The Free Trade Agreement also commits both sides to resolving non-tariff barriers including for renewable energy generation.

In addition, the Free Trade Agreement protects intellectual property and soft assets, including many innovative green technologies.

More recently, we have also launched negotiations on an EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement, to enhance digital connectivity between the two sides and give businesses added confidence to transact in the digital economy.

The digital revolution is closely interlinked with the green transition. New digital solutions and technologies can potentially help accelerate our progress to a greener, more sustainable future.

Singapore looks forward to the Swedish business community’s support for the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement, which will help send a strong signal on shaping global rules and standards on digital trade.

It could also serve as a pathfinder for similar future arrangements between the EU and ASEAN.

In a similar vein, I would also encourage Swedish companies to consider collaborating with the Singapore ecosystem.

Sweden has produced sustainability champions, both in terms of large corporates driving sustainability innovation and scale-ups deploying next-generation technologies.

In fact, I was at the EuroCham Sustainability Awards last month where the Swedish Chamber of Commerce here won the inaugural Green Initiative of the Year award, setting a positive example for other international business chambers.

Southeast Asia is a dynamic and high-growth region of more than 670 million people.

The region is projected to be the fourth-largest economy globally by 2030, driven by youthful demographics and a growing middle class. If you include India, then it is a combined market size of more than 2 billion.

As a regional business and finance hub, Singapore can be a base for Swedish businesses to connect with partners across Southeast Asia and the larger Asia-Pacific region, making the best use of trade, investment and intellectual property agreements that we have negotiated over the years.

For example, we are leveraging our strengths as an international financial centre and business hub to establish ourselves as a vibrant carbon services and trading hub. Carbon Impact X, a global carbon exchange and marketplace looking at the trading of carbon credits, is based in Singapore.

We welcome companies across the carbon market value chain to set up in Singapore and use us as a base to expand into the region which has huge potential for mitigation activities particularly in nature-based solutions.

I earlier mentioned MAS’ activities in green and transition finance. Singapore is working with various stakeholders to develop and scale Asia-tailored transition finance solutions to capture transition opportunities.

To enable the new Singapore-Asia Taxonomy to facilitate cross-border green and transition financial flows, we have embarked on plans to enhance interoperability with the taxonomies of other geographies, including the EU.

We are keen to work with European partners, including from Sweden, to develop sustainability-related capabilities in Singapore and grow the range of sustainable finance solutions to serve clients in Asia.

As a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise, Singapore is also continually enhancing our R&D ecosystem to offer partners a testbed for innovation and a gateway to scale new technologies across Asia.

Our Institutes of Higher Learning and research institutes are ready partners to industry.

Their deep capabilities and translational platforms can accelerate the translation of research into industry and market-relevant solutions.

I am also pleased to see our Institutes of Higher Learning deepen linkages with Swedish counterparts with an eye to enabling the green transition.

NTU, for example, will be collaborating with the Stockholm School of Economics, Minister Forsell’s alma mater, to deliver its Executive Master of Science in Sustainability Management.

This will help to meet growing industry needs for expertise in sustainability management.

I hope that more universities on both sides can follow suit to forge similar collaborations.

Let me conclude. Since we established diplomatic relations in 1966, Singapore and Sweden have built up wide-ranging cooperation in defence, education, the environment, and research and development.

As we move forward to further enhance ties, tackling climate change and making the green transition are good opportunities to deepen our collaborations in the important area of innovation.

I wish you meaningful, productive, and constructive discussions for the rest of the Summit today. Thank you.