Goh Chok Tong: Building a brighter future for Asia together Keynote address by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Nomura Asia Equity Forum 2007, Singapore, 4 July 2007. *  *  *  Welcome to Singapore. I thank Nomura for holding its fourth Asia Equity Forum here, and for bringing together this diverse group of companies, financial institutions and investors. I hope that this forum will serve as a platform for forging new business relationships and conceiving new growth opportunities. Last week, the World Economic Forum on East Asia hosted more than 300 leaders from business, politics, government, civil society and media in Singapore. The mood was upbeat. The overall feeling was that 10 years after the Financial Crisis, Asia has emerged stronger and its growth built on firmer foundations. The belief was that despite some challenges ahead, Asia would continue to rise. As leaders of governments and companies, we have to anticipate the future. I am not suggesting that we do this with a crystal ball but we should have a mental road-map of the terrain ahead. This will help us position ourselves to seize the opportunities, manage the risks and devise strategies for growth. This morning, I would like to share with you how I see Asia’s regional architecture evolving, and how we are building a brighter future. I will take a medium term timeframe as I believe this is more relevant to business planning.
In November, the Leaders will, at their Summit in Singapore, issue a legally-binding blueprint to implement the ASEAN Economic Community. ASEAN will eventually evolve into a single market with free flow of goods, services, investment and talent. For investors, an integrated market of half a billion people will be an attractive investment proposition. For financial institutions, it will mean more projects to finance and more wealth to manage. ASEAN’s combined GDP of $ is larger than most economies. It is, in fact, bigger than India’s $ and more that a third of China’s $ In addition, the ASEAN Economic Community will boost the region’s GDP by 10%. To benefit from the growth of China and India, ASEAN is negotiating FTAs with these two giants. They are targeted for completion by 2010 and 2011 respectively. Besides China and India, ASEAN is also enhancing links with other economic centres. ASEAN signed a regional Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) with the US last August. It is negotiating FTAs with Japan, South Korea and Australia and New Zealand. And in May, ASEAN and the European Union decided to launch FTA talks. Political coalescence At the political level, Asia is also coalescing. However, political coalescence is progressing more slowly than economic integration. And it will be far less defined and institutionalised than what we see in the EU. Compared to Europe, Asia is more diverse politically and culturally. There are complexities and practical difficulties. However, the basic direction has been set.