Speaking at the G20 Summit, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also highlighted the need to reform the World Trade Organization to make it more outcome-oriented.
New partnerships need to be built around the world in order to reform and update the global rules-based multilateral system to meet today’s realities, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Saturday (Nov 22).
He was speaking during the first session of this year’s G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The session’s theme was on inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
“All of these efforts can form the foundations of a more resilient and secure multilateral trading system,” Mr Wong told fellow leaders at the Johannesburg Expo Centre.
He cited the example of the Trade and Investment Dialogues held two days ago, between the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and also between the CPTPP and the European Union.
The CPTPP is the successor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which pulled together 12 nations around the Pacific rim to create a more ambitious set of trading rules. After the Donald Trump administration withdrew from the TPP in January 2017, the other 11 nations decided to continue as the CPTPP.
During the dialogues, issues like trade and investment facilitation, digital trade and supply chain resilience were discussed, said Mr Wong.
“In the same regard, we should look at ways in which we can bring the free trade areas and free trade blocs in Africa closer with Southeast Asia and ASEAN,” he said. This year’s G20 Summit is the first to be held in Africa.
Mr Wong also shared about Singapore’s experience working with other countries to launch a new framework, the Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership, that brings together small and medium-sized economies to keep up the momentum of trade liberalisation.
The partnership, announced in September this year, brings together Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
In his speech, Mr Wong also emphasised a need to reform the current global system, be it the World Trade Organization (WTO) or other global institutions.
“We cannot be paralysed by old ways of doing things. We all have to get behind the urgent reforms that are needed in the WTO so that it becomes more effective and outcome-oriented,” he said.
“We should complement the WTO with flexible multilateral approaches, and that is why Singapore supports minilaterals and plurilaterals, which can serve as important pathfinders towards updating global rules.”
GLOBAL RULES REMAIN
Mr Wong also urged fellow leaders to “recommit to the core foundations which remain relevant today” in the world.
This means upholding international law and the norms and practices that guide state behaviour, he said.
“That is critical to continued peace and stability in the world,” he added.
In his speech, Mr Wong said that the rules-based multilateral system, anchored by the WTO, for decades provided that stability. However, that system is now under “severe strain”.
“One reason is that the system has been optimised for efficiency in a different era, and it has not caught up with the realities of today’s world, realities like digital trade, as well as the fact that interdependencies are increasingly being seen as vulnerabilities and are open to being weaponised or used as leverage in moments of dispute,” said Mr Wong.
While countries are understandably taking actions to protect themselves and prioritising resilience and security, the global system will unravel even more quickly if every nation goes its own way, said Mr Wong.
“When that happens, everyone will be worse off, and the heaviest burden will fall on the developing nations. So we do need to reform and update the global system to ensure it addresses the strategic realities of our time,” he said.
Building a new global economic architecture will require significant effort and considerable political will, said Mr Wong, adding that multiple efforts are already underway.
“The G20 can and should play a key leadership role in coordinating these efforts, and Singapore stands ready to do our part and work with all members towards these objectives,” he said.
