Balakrishnan outlines Singapore's 2027 ASEAN chair priorities at Milken Asia Summit

Centre · 2Singapore will push for deeper economic integration within ASEAN and wider partnerships beyond the region when it chairs the bloc in 2027, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Wednesday 7 October at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. 1 2 Centre · 1Asked what a successful chairmanship would look like, Balakrishnan said it would be one in which ASEAN's economy keeps growing and integrating, and member states' strengths, such as in energy and technology, complement each other. 1 Centre · 2Balakrishnan said the wider partnerships would go beyond ASEAN's traditional dialogue partners to include Africa, South America, the Pacific Islands and Canada, in what they called a "trans-Pacific strategy"; SCMP also reported the European Union as a partner named in this context. 1 2

Centre · 2Balakrishnan expressed confidence in the bloc despite regional challenges that SCMP listed as Myanmar's civil war, an unresolved Thailand-Cambodia border dispute and South China Sea tensions, citing strong growth in members such as Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia and saying, "I’m a believer in Asean." 2 1 Centre · 2On US-China rivalry, Balakrishnan said Singapore would try to keep the trust of both powers and "refuse to choose", because choosing would mean losing strategic options; they described Singapore's position as a "peculiarly sensitive existential point" and said assets and investment would leave if Singapore lost the ability to say no. 1 2 Centre · 1SCMP reported that Balakrishnan said Singapore must assure both superpowers it remains useful without being a proxy for either, and that global conditions would stay unsettled until the US and China address domestic problems: inequality and political division in Washington, and an ageing population and economic imbalances in Beijing. 2

Centre · 1SCMP reported that Balakrishnan called the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea "absolutely crucial", noting about 40 per cent of global trade passes through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and said any assault on transit passage rights, as with the Strait of Hormuz, threatens Singapore's business model. 2 Centre · 2CNA reported that Balakrishnan, who has built AI agents with open-source tools, warned of the risk of losing control of autonomous AI agents and said rogue state and non-state actors could use the technology to develop weapons of mass destruction; SCMP quoted them as saying that anyone wanting to move fast in AI and synthetic biology also needs "good brakes" and international standards. 1 2 Centre · 1CNA noted the Philippines currently chairs ASEAN and is expected to host a summit next month, where the chair is typically handed over, and said the summit, in its 13th edition, expected about 1,500 participants from 50 countries and was moderated by Milken Institute CEO Richard Ditizio. 1