British collectively told off by Singaporean for wallowing in the past and not planning for the future by keeping up with developments and training their people with the necessary skills as well as reminded of their imperial past. Excellent. #r4today #Brexit #Commonwealth2018— Claire Khaw (@MinimumSt8) April 20, 2018
Interviewed live on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme, and BBC World Service News Hour.— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) April 20, 2018
Emphasised the importance of free trade and the benefits it has brought about for both Singapore and the UK.... https://t.co/FMpLGoJWCk
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| Could this very impressive Singaporean politician be the next Prime Minister of Singapore? |
From 2:31
Justin Webb:
The 200th anniversary of the founding of Singapore is next year and to mark it there is going to be a new and substantive partnership between Singapore and the UK - that is what we are told. What might that mean though in a post-Brexit world, in particular of course what's going to happen to trade. The Singapore-EU Trade Agreement is going to come into force next year. Will we be part of that? The Minister for Foreign Affairs in the government of Singapore is going to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and he is here in the studio. What is status of that trade deal with the EU because it took a long time to arrange. Is it now definitely now coming into action?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Ah well, there's still one more step: it needs to be ratified. We hope that will be done some time later this year and then we can bring it into force next year.
Justin Webb:
And if it comes into force next year it comes at a ticklish time, doesn't it [provocative giggle], because Britain in theory at least probably in practice is going out of the European Union and involved then in a transition arrangement - a set of transition arrangements - in the EU. Is that going to be part of the ...
Vivian Balakrishnan:
[interrupting firmly] No, in fact that's all the more reason why it is important to get it done this year. If we can get it ratified and into force next year, then when Britain leaves or invokes the Brexit clause, we will make what we call continuity arrangements which will allow us to support the provisions of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement to Britain.
Justin Webb:
[provocatively] Are you happy to do that?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Yes, we will be happy to do that.
Justin Webb:
Because the argument has been in the past that those supporting arrangements wouldn't always be so easy, for instance with South Korea where actually it is a different set of arrangements and there might be different things that you want to be included in those arrangements. You're saying not so?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Well, Britain and Singapore have a special relationship. We're both free traders. We believe in integration, we believe in economic interdependence and we are keen to help Britain get across this transition with minimal disruption. In due time we can subsequently look to upgrade, modify or improve the agreement, but it is very important in this transition period not to have a hard stop.
Justin Webb:
So all the benefits of the free trade arrangement that you will have between Singapore and the EU will continue to be felt by Britain after Britain has left the European Union.
Vivian Balakrishnan:
That's our hope. Now obviously it depends on the EU making that offer to allow for the continuity arrangements. It depends on the UK also agreeing to this, but I am indicating that Singapore is open for business and we want to maintain ...
Justin Webb:
Just fill out why the EU is involved in that decision.
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Well, Britain is still part of the EU.
Justin Webb:
No, but once it has left.
Vivian Balakrishnan:
This offer for continuity at this point in time needs to be made by the EU to us so that's not something which the United Kingdom needs to settle with the EU in order for this continuity arrangement to be made. But what we are signalling unequivocably is that we want our trade relations with the United Kingdom to continue, to continue without disruption and in fact to build upon it.
Justin Webb:
[persistently] One of the big things that people talk about is the difficulties of these arrangements and it's been mentioned with South Korea and other countries as well is this highly complex areas such as Rules of Origin where something that is made in a country but comes into that country from other places can or cannot be counted as an export form that country. Is that an issue in this?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Not really for us. You know, Singapore has got about 21 free trade arrangements and another three subject to rectification and we are also negotiating another half a dozen or more. These issues with Rules of Origin, I mean, that's a whole body of negotiations which we can rely on, so I don't expect this to be an issue.
Justin Webb:
[desperately] A high quality car, an expensive car exported at the moment from Britain to Singapore, made right around Europe, bits of it coming from all sorts of countries - when Britain has left the European Union - assuming it does - you're saying there won't be an issue about the fact of that car built in other places?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
During the continuity period, we will follow the same Rules of Origin that are currently agreed on in the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. So I don't view that as a problem.
Justin Webb:
People often talk about the choices Britain has to make now and one of the choices is to become a kind of Singapore and becoming a kind of Europe. You laugh. Why?
Vivian Balakrishnan:
I don't think the analogy is in any way appropriate. Singapore is a tiny city-state, a small low-lying island in the heart of South East Asia. The United Kingdom is on a completely different scale, and you're located in a completely different part of the world with different challenges and opportunities. [reprovingly] I think the question of Brexit is something for the UK voters and the UK voters have decided.
Justin Webb:
[even more desperately] But don't you think this is an attitude of mind - because there is now a division in this country between those who say we should become a much freer trading country and a much more open country and a country perhaps with fewer safety nets etc and that is how people see Singapore whether or not that is actually the case and those who sort of want to go down the European route really and we're doing the complete opposite.
Vivian Balakrishnan:
Well, if you don't mind, since this is a Commonwealth meeting. [Reminding the British of their own history] It is worth reflecting that the Commonwealth exists because the Industrial Revolution began in England three centuries ago, and, if you think about the Commonwealth, and if you recall the old system of Imperial Preferences - the Commonwealth was a trading bloc. The key ingredient for the future is mastering the technological revolution that's occurring now and then maintaining an open inclusive rules-based approach to trade, movement of people ideas - that's how you create future jobs. You're absolutely right: it is about a frame of mind. [He left unsaid "and your government is not in the right frame of mind to do this because you are degenerates and headless chickens without a hope in hell of promoting the national interest because this concept is not even on your political horizon."] So I'm not so much caught up with the details of Brexit but the mindset and attitude. To understand that there is another new technological revolution occurring now, and the most important thing is to make sure our people have the skills, the qualifications for tomorrow's jobs, not arguing about yesterday's technology and yesterday's arrangements. Now, in the same way, from Singapore, you need to understand that we have a very unique perspective. We're the fourth largest financial centre, the second busiest port in the world. For us, our trading volume is three times our GDP. No one else in the world has that kind of ratio. For us, when we say we believe in free trade, it's not a negotiating point, it's our lifeblood [not something we just pay lip service to, unlike you].
Justin Webb:
[Possibly a little ashamed of himself after being reproved for his obvious agenda to get the Singaporean Foreign Minister to make trouble over Brexit for his own country and for his arrant disloyalty by a former colonial subject] Dr Balakrishnan, thank you.
