BEYOND SG

Interview with The Hindu

I gave an interview to Mr P.S. Suryanarayana of The Hindu before my visit to India for the inaugural ministerial consultation between me and Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

George Yeo

Date:21/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/21/stories/2008042155451100.htm
Yeo: There are no irritants in India-Singapore relations
P. S. Suryanarayana

“… you need to have some progress on the border problem [between India and China]. I don’t see that not happening.”

In a reflective interview to P.S. Suryanarayana in Singapore, its Foreign Minister George Yeo narrates how the dynamics of India-China engagement are seen and felt in the City-State.

You will be starting a new mechanism, Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), which will meet in New Delhi this week. India and Singapore have a robust relationship. Will it transcend the traditional notions of strategic partnership?

Whatever you call it, it is a strategic relationship, which both sides see as not only mutually beneficial but also necessary. This is the inaugural [JMC] meeting. And, then [will follow] a strategic dialogue [whose] inaugural meeting will be held in Singapore.

Are you looking at any new projects at this JMC meeting?

It is good always to have a discussion on what is going on in the world and [how] we should respond to these changes. I have always found it useful to talk to [External Affairs Minister] Pranab Mukherjee: very experienced, very wise.

One of the likely new ventures is the special economic zone (SEZ). Has Singapore been given the green light from the Indian side to go ahead?

We are certainly interested.

Singapore has had a particularly important role in China. Will it be qualitatively different in India?

We have industrial estates in China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia. Each has got to take into account local conditions.

SEZ is a politically sensitive issue in India. Have you already zeroed in on any particular area?

Ascendas has been in discussions with different groups in different parts of the country. [The project] must make commercial sense, and it must respect local sensitivities. In India, you operate within a different framework [compared to China].We are very used to operating in different environments (Laughs genially). And, the key here is: we understand that this issue is particularly sensitive in India, and we will accommodate it. We will work with that sensitivity in mind.

What is the secret of the recent deletion of some items of liberalised trade-in-goods from the (India-Singapore) Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement?

This is the usual horse-trading that goes on when free trade agreements are reviewed. There’re always trade-offs.

This is not an issue?

Not at all. (Laughs heartily) Best as I know, as of now, there’s no irritant in our bilateral relationship.

Any particular focus, to start with, in the Strategic Dialogue?

It’s between Prof. Tommy Koh and Dr. S.K. Lambah (leaders of the Singapore and Indian delegations to this Dialogue). You have on the Asian landscape something truly historic, which is the simultaneous re-emergence of two ancient powers.

The United States today is a wounded superpower and also somewhat of a sliding economy. If that can be taken as a framework, are India and China in a position to restructure the East Asian security architecture?

No, not for a long time to come. China and India are growing, while the U.S. is dominant and [will] remain dominant for a long time.

I see so many Indians now in very high positions in the U.S. in all fields. It’s a great asset to India, which gives the U.S.-India relationship a quality which China can only wish it has. [But] China has been recognised by the Pentagon as the only country on the horizon which can compete with the U.S. strategically.
There is [also] an interesting phenomenon that the world meets in the U.S. Oh! Should I say: the American dream became the Asian dream. [Moreover] China and India are engaged in a new encounter: unparalleled, without precedent. It is a huge engagement which will be interesting and surprising (Emphasises in a positive tone). And, it has only just started.

We sense it in Singapore (Says with a touch of emotion). We sense this new age, because we are like an approximate precursor of what may be happening on a much larger scale. We have two-or-three thousand Indian companies; 3,000 Chinese companies, huge migrations [of people] from India and China. They meet in our classrooms, the restaurants; and, sometimes I wonder: “God, What’s going on!” You know: in our condominiums, how they encounter each other; some lead separate lives, some inter-marry. It is something which you will see replicated a thousand times across Asia, maybe in Bombay, in Shanghai, Hong Kong. It’s a huge phenomenon which is just beginning to appear before us.

You were saying that the American dream has in a sense become the Asian dream as well. Given the American dream in Asia since the end of the Second World War, will the U.S. feel threatened by the simultaneous rise of China and India now?

The U.S. of course [would] like to have an ally in India. But India is too big to be anybody’s pawn. [And] India recognises that China is a permanent neighbour.

[And, while] it has become a multi-polar world, with the U.S. still the strongest pole, there are two emerging poles which are becoming more and more influential: China and India. Everybody is playing the field, in an electromagnetic sense.

As the Chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) and also the East Asia Summit (EAS), both of which include India and China, what does Singapore make of their engagement?
Take Tibet. China has been emphatic in praising India for doing the right thing, and India has been very careful in doing the right things. So, when the [Olympic] Torch went through Delhi, the Indian Army was on both sides to ensure that nothing happened to the flame. (Laughs heartily) I fully expected that. It is too important a relationship to be trifled with by either side.

China has settled its land borders with everybody else, including Russia and even Vietnam. So, you need to have some progress on the border problem [between India and China]. I don’t see that not happening. There is no history of antagonism between the two sides, except for the brief war (in 1962) which remains a scar in the Indian psyche [but] ... not in the consciousness of most Chinese. So, whenever I have a chance, I tell the Chinese: “Hey! Look. You must factor this in.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently suggested that the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, which bring Washington as a participant, can be institutionalised. What is the game-plan?

If the six-party talks, after making some progress, can also provide a readymade platform for other areas of cooperation, that should only be encouraged. With the U.S. having been a part of the past [in East Asia], it must also be a part of the future.[As for the] East Asia Summit, the U.S. has not expressed interest [in joining]. From Singapore’s perspective, the EAS is a very important grouping which brings China and India together.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

(Courtesy - The Hindu)

The Art of Being Not There

I am constantly amazed at how humans intereact these days. If you observe closely, humans equipped with cellphones, PDAs, notebooks, iPods and all that digital gizmos no longer talk to each other.

At McDonalds restaurants, starbucks and all the usual "gathering" places, humans talk to their cellphones, SMS, I-chat - they are physically there but they are not "there". I find it most shocking when the same social behaviour extends to St James Powerstation's discos and lounges. Everybody is looking at their cellphones when they should be enjoying the music or "checking the babes" but no! they are dutifully staring at their tiny LCD screens. They are not there.

I have to have a night life because I am a businessman these days to connect, collaborate and contract. Yet I am staring at my blackberry reading New York Times and ABC News while the world around me drink, dance and date. I am not there too.

Faith Popcorn, the author who wrote the classic "Popcorn Report" and "Cocoon" predicted that humans, equipped with cocoon technologies like potable MP3 player, video players and communication devices will cocoon themselves in their own ecospheres/dataspheres. Reality or real space is too boring, being here is cool, being not here is sub zero cool.

Hope to meet you soon. Remember, I am not really here.

Harold Fock

The Power of a Search Engine in a trip to Seattle

Last month, I was in Redmond, Seattle to attend a Microsoft conference. During the trip, my business partners and I decided to visit the Apple store as we wanted to check out the new iPhone and the Air Mac. The problem was we have no idea where was the flagship store in Seattle. We got into the cab and asked the cab driver to locate any Apple store. He was very helpful but was not sure. He remembered vaguely that there is an Apple store somewhere at University Village.

I punched three search words in Google on my Blackberry 8800. "Apple" "store" "seattle". Out pop the following information on my Blackberry screen:

Apple Store www.apple.com 2656 NE University Village St Seattle, WA 98105, United States +1 206-524-8100 Get directions

Google "knew" that when you punched in the above keywords, chances are you are looking for an Apple store and it is smart enough to anticipate you need a map too. A second click told me the opening hours of the store. Mission accomplished. We all bought quite a few items from the Apple store, thanks to Google. Otherwise we would have gotten back to our hotel, have a few glasses of wine and sleep.

It just dawned on me there and then why Google is worth billions in terms of valuation. And why Microsoft wishes to buy Yahoo. In the net age, you cant live without a smart search engine.

Harold Fock

At Microsoft Conference Centre trying to fight jet lag. The folks at Redmond WORKS HARD. Their conference assembly time is 645am!!!

At Seattle's amazing Science Fiction Museum and Experience Music Project Building (the purplish reflective structure behind me). Yes, you got it right. They devote half a Frank O. Gehry-designed building to SCI FICTION books and movies. How Geeky Sub Zero Cool can you get?

The APPLE store (It felt like "Harold and Kumar found White Castle" Burgerstore when we arrived!!!)

Slovakia

1. Slovakia is now one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. With a flat tax and an environment conducive to investment, Slovakia is developing fast. Unemployment has been coming down. It now prides itself as the world's biggest producer of motorcars on a per capita basis.

2. Slovakia and Singapore share a kindred spirit. Completely dependent on the larger environment, Slovakia is outward oriented and determined to make itself relevant to others, like us. Joining the EU has been a boon. With the removal of border controls, Bratislava and Vienna are becoming twin cities, with the international airport at Vienna serving both cities.

3. Foreign Minister Jan Kubis went out of his way to make my short visit pleasant and productive. Our economic link is still weak but has potential to become much stronger. Like Austria, Slovakia is now in the middle of Europe and well-positioned to benefit from new opportunities brought about by the enlargement of the EU. There is a lot we can do to help each other. In 2006, Slovakia's President visited Singapore and SM Goh visited Slovakia, opening a new chapter in our relationship.

4. An interesting new press law has just been passed by the Slovak Parliament giving politicians the right of reply to inaccurate reports in the media. This of course was what we insisted of foreign newspapers circulating in Singapore some years ago.

George Yeo

Minister Yeo and Slovak President Dr Ivan Gasparovic

Minister Yeo and Foreign Minister Jan Kubis

Minister Yeo and Deputy Speaker of National Council Miroslav Ciz

Minister Yeo in Red Stone Castle

Minister Yeo outside a house where Mozart is played

Slovakia Flag

Austria

1 Vienna sparkles. I have not been back to this elegant city since 1979 when I drove in from Budapest past the iron curtain.

2. It was for centuries the capital of a vast realm ruled by the Habsburgs. Austro-Hungary was a multi national empire kept together by a sophisticated system of governance. Though staunchly Catholic, it handled ethnic and religious diversity sensitively. These instincts are deeply ingrained in the Austrian people.

3. After the First World War, Austria lost its monarchy and much of its empire. But it kept its high culture expressed in manners, music, pastries and diplomacy. A big tree became a beautiful potted bonsai. With the end of the Cold War and the eastward enlargement of the European Union, the pot has been broken and the roots and branches are spreading again in a European garden. We are fortunate to have the Chairman of Raiffeisen Bank as our Honorary Consul General. The bank is expanding at a rate of one branch a day, not including weekends, mostly eastwards. It even has a branch in Kamchatka! Austria is now one of the best performing economies in the European Union.

4. We've not had a Singapore Foreign Minister visit Austria for over 20 years partly because it has been a happy and mostly problem-free relationship. Sometimes we take our friends for granted. Looking ahead, there is much we can do to help each other.

George Yeo

Minister touring Kunst Historishes Museum

Minister touring Nationalbibliothek

Minister with Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer

Minister with Federal President Heinz Fisher and Ambassador Soo Kok Leng

Minister with Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik

Minister with HCG Rothensteiner

Vienna Code of Arms

Minister Yeo's speech at 2nd Asia-Middle East DIalogue Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

SPEECH BY GEORGE YEO, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AT THE SECOND ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE
SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT
5 APRIL 2008

Your Excellency Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Fellow Ministers
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentleman

1 I am delighted to be back in Egypt to attend this second meeting of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED). On behalf of the Singapore delegation, I thank and congratulate Minister Aboul Gheit and the good officers of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for the excellent arrangements. Singapore treasures its friendship with Egypt which goes back to the days of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The strong support of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan and Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa of Bahrain in February 2004 convinced Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that the idea of AMED was worth pursuing.

2 AMED has made good progress since our inaugural meeting in Singapore in 2005. It is helping to revive the historical relationship between two ancient regions once linked by the overland and maritime silk routes. With the centre of gravity of the world economy returning to Asia in this century, the connections between the Middle East and Asia will multiply in the coming years. They will not only be economic but political and cultural as well.

3 This re-encounter of Asia and the Middle East is of historic significance. In a new age of globalisation, countries and regions once belonging to different European empires are re-discovering one another. I remember how the ice quickly broke once we got to know one another during the first AMED meeting in Singapore. By the time we bade each other farewell at a dinner in Singapore’s Arab quarter, the sense of closeness and camaraderie was felt by everybody.

4 At the Singapore meeting, we established three working groups based on the three pillars of AMED as a first step forward. Among the number of projects that have been started, let me highlight two. The Economic Working Group co-chaired by Egypt and Thailand is working on the standardisation of halal food certification across Asia and the Middle East. Such standardisation would facilitate trade and investment in halal foodstuff, an industry which is worth billions of dollars. The Social, Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Environmental and Media (SESCEM) Working Group co-chaired by Jordan and Singapore has established two Regional Training Centres in Amman and Doha focusing on vocational training and public administration respectively. Both training centres are up and running and already conducting courses on a regular basis. These are simple but practical projects which bring immediate benefits to our people.

5 Singapore will organise, specially for AMED members, three new training courses on aviation security, port management and intellectual property protection under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). Singapore will also organise an AMED Media Roundtable in 2009 bringing together senior Asian and Middle Eastern editors for a discussion on how our media organisations can work better together. For too long, we have depended too much on the Western media for news about each other’s regions. It will be good for our editors and journalists to establish direct links with one another. Since the first AMED meeting, we have invited groups of journalists from the Middle East to visit Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia.

6 The interactions between Asia and the Middle East are growing rapidly. It was significant that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia chose to make his first overseas visit to four Asian countries in 2006 after ascending the throne. This sent a clear signal of Asia’s rising importance to the Middle East which is increasingly reflected in the economic numbers. Propelled by the re-emergence of China and India on the global stage, Asia has become the fastest growing region in the world. Asia’s energy needs have raised the prices of oil and gas ushering in a new era of prosperity for hydrocarbon-rich countries. Direct and portfolio investments by countries in the Middle East in Asia have grown dramatically in recent years, including those by sovereign wealth funds. Islamic finance and banking have become more important in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong.

7 The Middle East has also become a huge opportunity for Asian companies. Trillions of dollars are being spent on infrastructure creating an unprecedented construction boom. Some of the most remarkable cities of the future are being built in the Gulf. In all sectors and professions, Asians are contributing to this amazing transformation. Asian companies from Japan, Korea, China, India and ASEAN are involved in all kinds of projects. South Asians play a big role providing essential manpower from high-level managers and professionals down to manual workers.

8 The Middle East has become more and more important to the Singapore economy. From 2004 to 2007, our bilateral trade with the Middle East shot up by over 50% to reach some US$35 billion last year. Two-way trade and investment will receive a further boost when the recently-negotiated GCC-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (GSFTA) comes into force. We hope that this will be followed by a Free Trade Agreement between ASEAN and the GCC. In fact, both the countries of ASEAN and the GCC have agreed to hold the first meeting of Foreign Ministers this year.

9 We are fortunate that in developing closer ties between Asia and the Middle East, there is little historical baggage. In fact, the more we know one another, the more we appreciate the things we share in common.

10 As our two regions grow, there will be more opportunities for cooperation. I would like to suggest three areas that AMED can focus on. First, AMED can serve as a platform for Asia and the Middle East to share knowledge about each other’s development experiences. In the field of public education, for example, many Middle Eastern countries are evaluating the relevance of Asian models to their own needs. Singapore has recently established a Middle East Institute to help us know the region better. We are also promoting the teaching of the Arabic language.

11 Second, AMED can be a vehicle bringing Asia and the Middle East together in new areas of partnership. An area of current interest is renewable energy resources. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative, the world’s first attempt to create a zero-carbon, zero-waste city, has attracted global attention. Similarly, Singapore is working with China to develop an Eco-city in the Chinese city of Tianjin, a project Qatar is participating in as a partner in the Singapore consortium. There are many sectors where public institutions and private companies can collaborate for mutual benefit. In Singapore, an Arab cultural centre will be established to catalyse greater contact between Asia and the Middle East. There is a substantial Arab community in Southeast Asia which provides us a ready network. When I visited Yemen in May last year, the Vice Governor of the Hadramaut who hosted me was the great great great grand-nephew of one of Singapore’s pioneers, Syed Omar Aljunied, who gave the name to Singapore’s oldest mosque and to indeed my own electoral constituency.

12 Third, AMED can become a new partnership of Asian and Middle Eastern countries working together to overcome trans-boundary challenges like energy security, climate change, religious conflict, international terrorism, maritime security and pandemics. These are issues that cannot be handled by a single country or region. We must give some priority to inter-faith understanding. Just a fortnight ago, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed a new inter-faith dialogue that will bring together Islam, Christianity and Judaism to promote inter-religious harmony. This is an idea that we strongly support. The recent agreement between Muslim leaders led by Prince Ghazi of Jordan and the Vatican to establish a permanent forum for Muslim-Catholic dialogue is another positive development. The first meeting will be held in Rome at the end of this year and the next will be held in a Muslim country in 2010. I hope that Singapore, one day, can also be a venue for the forum.

13 What AMED should try to bring about as a long-term goal is a dense network of connections linking governments, companies, NGOs and private individuals. More than ever before, we have a mutual stake in each other’s stability, prosperity and security. And, together, we can enhance the prospects for peace and development for 60% of mankind.

14 A few years ago, a 9th century Arab dhow which sank 350 nautical miles south of Singapore was salvaged. Carrying about 60,000 artifacts of Chinese Tang Dynasty ceramics and a small collection of gold and silver ornaments, the dhow was probably headed towards the Western Indian Ocean. On many pieces, the motifs were either Buddhist or Islamic. Laboratory tests showed that the wood used for the construction of the dhow came from the Middle East and Africa except for some teak beams which originated from India’s Malabar coast. The wooden planks were stitched together in a pattern identical to that used today for modern dhow construction in Oman. Scholars believe that the 9th century dhow was probably built on the Omani coast. Last year, to our great joy, Sultan Qaboos of Oman agreed to build a replica of the dhow and present it to Singapore so that the Chinese Tang dynasty cargo can be exhibited in its full glory. The symbolism is a beautiful one for us.

15 And, not far from Sharm El Sheikh, near Egypt’s border with Sudan, recent excavations at the archaeological site of Berenike showed that it was once a thriving port, successively used by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for trade with Arabia, Persia, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. At least eleven languages were used in Berenike including Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, Latin and Sanskrit. When, once upon a time, camel caravans travelling through Central Asia and Arab dhows sailing the Indian Ocean connected us, today, we have jet aircraft, container ships, highways, railroads, pipelines and broadband. But it is the same regions which are being re-connected, and descendants of the same peoples all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic meeting again, trading and exchanging ideas. Our meeting today epitomises this exchange. I look forward to a meaningful dialogue that will help build us all a better future.

George Yeo

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