SINGAPORE – For Asia to realise the promise it holds despite difficulties such as geopolitical tensions and growing protectionism, its countries must prioritise cooperation while ensuring the stability of their own societies, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday.

Asian countries have agency, and if they can make the right choices, they can create the conditions for peace, security and continued prosperity, he said.

For Singapore, amid this challenging international environment, it is all the more important to look to the future, he added.

Speaking at the end of the two-day Asia Future Summit organised by SPH Media, PM Lee noted that Singapore is preparing for leadership transition, as a new team looks to bring the Republic into the next bound.

He said the younger leaders are developing a substantive national agenda under the nationwide engagement exercise Forward Singapore to build a more resilient and united nation.

The country is also looking outward, working with its Asean and international partners to support deeper regional integration and multilateralism, he added. 

“We are doing all these so that we can set the right conditions and create opportunities for our next generation,” said PM Lee, addressing about 300 conference participants at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel. 

The summit, which featured speakers including Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and former Australian prime minister John Howard, covered topics such as finding balance amid geopolitical tensions, and forging new paths amid societal shifts.

On Thursday, PM Lee noted that Asia as a region is vibrant and has great promise. 

“But to realise Asia’s promise, we need the right conditions,” he said, pointing out that for the past few decades, Asia has been fortunate to enjoy a peaceful, stable and increasingly globalised environment. 

The global and regional stability has been critical to the region’s dynamism and prosperity, he said. 

“We hope that the decades ahead will see peace prevailing and economic progress continuing in Asia. But this is far from guaranteed. The future depends on the choices that we make.”

First, Asia needs to uphold and reinforce the open and inclusive regional architecture, said PM Lee.

Many Asian countries recognise the importance of the major powers having stakes in and contributing to the region’s stability and development, he noted. 

Hence, Asean has long sought to build a dense web of cooperation and interdependence, with overlapping circles of friends, he added. 

Second, there needs to be deepened regional economic integration, he said. Examples of this include the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which covers 30 per cent of global gross domestic product, as well as economic cooperation frameworks like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“The third precondition is that individual countries need to manage our own internal social and political developments, to create stable societies and states that can contribute to the prosperity of Asia, and have governments with the mandate to pursue regional cooperation,” said PM Lee. 

He cited Myanmar as an example of how domestic troubles can hold back regional cooperation and lead to difficulties for a country’s neighbours. 

“But for every country, domestic stability is a precondition for effective external collaboration, and domestic political function, not dysfunction, is equally necessary,” he said. 

“International relations are vital to the security and prosperity of a country, but a country’s foreign policy always depends on supportive domestic politics.” 

Acknowledging that it is in every country’s interest to cooperate for win-win outcomes, PM Lee said there is also a need to be realistic about the difficulties of achieving this in a turbulent world. 

Asia faces three broad challenges, he added. 

The first is increasing geopolitical contestation, particularly between the United States and China.

While neither party seeks conflict, the risk of accidents or miscalculation is ever present, especially in dangerous hot spots like the Taiwan Strait. This worries Asian countries, said PM Lee.

Asia will also be impacted economically, though the picture is not all gloomy, he added.

While different countries will align more closely with one side or the other, nearly all still want to be friends with both, said PM Lee.

Countries will pursue policies that maximise their freedom of action, and hence, they work hard to keep regional cooperation going, and also keep the region open.

“It will be a more complex region, no doubt, but it is not likely to be a region split between two camps,” he said.

Second, Asia also has its own fair share of difficult issues to deal with, such as the dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands and the maritime claims in the South China Sea, said PM Lee.

Asian countries need to insulate their overall relations from these specific difficulties, build mutual trust and continue to cooperate pragmatically for mutual benefit, he said. 

He cited the example of how China and Australia’s ties have improved, with the former lifting tariffs on Australian barley exports.

“So, even countries that are not like-minded allies need to learn to cooperate and co-exist with one another,” he said.

The third challenge is a growing mood of nationalism and protectionism, as globalisation is in retreat.

Countries increasingly intervene in their economies to protect or subsidise industries, and others inevitably respond in kind.

This distorts markets, leads to escalating rounds of state support and protection, and leaves everyone worse off, said PM Lee.

It is a global trend that affects Asia, too, so governments need to push against this, to seek greater security and well-being collectively, and not individually, he said.

“For Asia to realise its promise despite these difficulties, we all need to demonstrate a high standard of statesmanship and strong resolve to focus on shared interests,” said PM Lee.

“There are still many opportunities for win-win cooperation amongst Asian countries, and there are also global problems which cannot be tackled by countries at odds with one another, such as climate change, pandemic preparedness and, not least, shared peace and prosperity.”

The Asia Future Summit is an inaugural collaboration between The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times.

• OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023. The event is also supported by GuocoLand and Kingsford Group.