Transcript, E&OE
27 July 2009, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, 12.15pm,
Joint Press Conference - 6th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Conference
The Hon. Stephen Smith MP, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr George Yeo, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs
Senator The Hon. John Faulkner, Australia's Minister for Defence
Mr Teo Chee Hean, Singapore's Minister for Defence
The Hon. Simon Crean MP, Australia's Minister for Trade
Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore's Minister for Trade
Introductory remarks by ministers for foreign affairs
Mr George Yeo, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs:
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the media for being here for the press conference. You've seen the joint communiqué. We've had a very good meeting this morning.
We started with an early informal breakfast before the meeting, but the discussion was so easy, so productive over breakfast that we decided to stretch the breakfast to three and a half hours. And, at one point, we dismissed the officials, telling them they can come back at 11 o'clock. So by the time they came back, we went through the laundry list, but really the substantive discussion was done informally over breakfast, which is what this joint ministerial committee ought to be: a sharing of hopes and fears; a meeting of minds. And, what's remarkable is the tremendous overlap in the way we view the world.
I thought our most interesting discussion this morning was about regional architecture. We know where we are now. We have ASEAN, ASEAN+3, the EAS (East Asia Summit), we are happy to see Australia getting into the ASEM, together with Russia, the upcoming APEC meetings, the G20, and about the APC (Asia Pacific community), and about what we hope Asia will look like in the future, taking into account where we are today.
Not all of it is reducible to points in the joint communiqué, but there's a lot of agreement between both countries to work on and translate into common action in the months and years to come.
Steve (The Hon. Stephen Smith MP, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs) and I have just come back from Phuket where we had a very good meeting between ASEAN and Australia at the ARF. Politically, I think the relationship is one of the best for us and I think one of the best for you (Australia) too.
On the trade and economic front, it has also been a very successful relationship ever since the Free Trade Agreement was signed between Singapore and Australia in 2003. There has been a big jump in the trade numbers and the investment numbers. We just had a second review and even though it's just been concluded, this morning we're talking about what the third review should cover to take the relationship to an even higher level.
We celebrated the fact that between ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, we signed the first comprehensive Free Trade Agreement in ASEAN as dialogue partner. It was signed in the wake of the Pattaya debacle, so not given the kind of publicity we would have liked. So we're hoping that at the ASEAN Summit in October in Phuket, enough countries would have ratified, so that the agreement can come into implementation. So then we can have a ceremony. We're shooting for that.
We discussed the importance of pushing the trade agenda right up on our agenda items and how to give it fresh political impetuous. We talked about the importance of APEC in November in Singapore and how the TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership) can help trigger off a larger dynamic in favour of free trade, particularly at a time like this, when with the global economic downturn, there is domestic political pressure in many countries for protectionism.
Then, on the defence and security side, it is remarkable how two countries can have such deep and broad relations. We are grateful to Australia for giving us very extensive facilities for all our services in Australia. We talked about our common endeavours in East Timor, in Afghanistan. We spent quite a lot of time talking about Afghanistan and about the future of that country and about how troops on the ground should work together.
We had a very good discussion on 2011, the 40th anniversary for the Five-Power Defence Arrangement; an arrangement which has helped maintain the peace in the region for a long time, which makes Australia and New Zealand a part of the region. So we thought that it is right and fitting that in two years time, when the 40th anniversary is celebrated, that it is done in a proper way.
Then we had discussions on other issues like the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting and how that will eventually evolve in the coming years and some other things besides.
So these are the points which come to immediate recall as I meet you. The details are all in this communiqué which you've received. And, I now pass the microphone to Steve.
The Hon. Stephen Smith MP, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs:
Well, thanks very much George, and on behalf of my colleagues, Simon Crean, the Trade Minister, and John Faulkner, the Defence Minister, I firstly start by thanking you and your colleagues for your hospitality today, but also for the productive nature of our conversations.
As you have outlined, we started off the day having breakfast for an hour or an hour and a half, and ended up having breakfast for three and a half hours, in a conversation that reflected the historical nature of our relationship - With Australia, of course, making a contribution to the defence of Singapore in the course of the Second World War. And the strength of our economic trade and investment relationship, underpinned now by the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which we have effected the second review of.
But, in addition to the Free Trade Agreement, Singapore is now, of course, Australia's fourth largest overall trading partner and our largest trading partner in ASEAN. And, so the strength of that economic relationship is very important. And, we've both found our way in the world by being great trading nations and by being free traders.
Our conversations about the importance of APEC, the importance of the TPP, the importance of the WTO, are reflected and underpinned by that economic relationship.
And there are, of course, the long-standing people-to-people relations, in particular, our long-standing education links. Many people in Singapore are the beneficiaries of Australia's Colombo Plan. But now we have anywhere up to 9000 Singaporean students in Australia. So I think our people-to-people and historic links are now underpinned by the importance of education.
Our defence arrangements could not be stronger. The Five-Power Defence Arrangement has served us well for nearly 40 years, and as you quite rightly said, the 40th anniversary will be appropriately recorded in the not too distant future.
The fact that we could sit down and have a substantive conversation traversing all aspects of the relationship: the bilateral aspects; what we then do regionally; and what we do internationally, I think underpins the strength of our relationship.
Singapore is the only country where Australia has a joint trade, defence and foreign affairs or foreign policy or strategic dialogue. And, today it has worked very well. We've resolved that we shouldn't let as much time go by before we have our next Joint Ministerial Committee meeting and so we'll do that in Australia in the course of or before 2011, with our ambition to do it every couple of years.
Later this afternoon, George and I will speak at a second-track dialogue, jointly sponsored by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and the Australian Institute of International Affairs. That second-track dialogue will also help to underpin the people-to-people exchanges and the breadth of the relationship.
But, George you are quite right, we traversed very many of the important bilateral, regional and international issues that we face and the challenges that we face: From counter-terrorism, to human trafficking to people smuggling; to ensuring, on the economic front, that we don't make the mistake in the international community of falling or lapsing into protectionism and wanting to continue to push and to put our shoulders to the wheels so far as trade liberalisation is concerned.
We had a very substantive conversation about the regional architecture. And, George and I having just come from the ASEAN-related meetings in Phuket last week and a very good conversation about the ASEAN-Australia Post Ministerial Dialogue, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum. And Prime Minister Rudd's initiative for an Asia Pacific community, and, then a very good discussion about some of our trade organisations, the TPP, the WTO and of course, APEC.
So these were substantive and productive conversations. There are not many breakfasts that can go for three and a half hours, without officials, which sometimes worries officials. But, that reflected both the substance of the conversation but also our like-mindedness. There's very much that we have in common, very much that we share, both in terms of our approach to the region, but also our approach to international issues.
So George, thank you very much for the conversations this morning, and for your hospitality and we look forward very much to doing this in Australia in the next couple of years.
Q&A session with media
Reporter (Associated Press): My question is for the two trade ministers. The global economic crisis has a big impact on exports out of Asia, where do you think we are in the global economic recovery and do you expect that exports out of Asia will turn positive by the end of the year?
Mr Crean:
I think it's very difficult to put a timeline on them turning positive, but they will turn positive. And, why is that? Because our future economic development is fundamentally dependent on trade.
Trade, over the last 50 years has grown three times faster than world output, so any country, doesn't matter what stage of economic development it is in, if it's to sustain its economic future, has to engage with trade. And, so that's why as trade ministers, we've been focused so much on the various opportunities to liberalise the trade market. But, I think that this region has taught us other things, and Singapore and Australia are on same page on this, it's not just enough to open the markets, you've got to be competitive enough to take advantage of them. So, structural reform within economies is also fundamental. This is a message we also need to reinforce as often as we can with countries within the region that haven't embraced the extent to which our economies have.
And the other component I think that's terribly important is to understand much better the different stages of economic development within the region. And so therefore it isn't just enough to knock down the trade barriers or to become competitive and leave countries to become competitive in their own right, we need to look at the question of capacity building within the country, to use our aid much more effectively to address that capacity building exercise.
In many senses, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which George has indicated was a very comprehensive, and high quality outcome, and I think a remarkable achievement because it was two developed countries negotiating with the complexity in ASEAN, but we achieved it. But this highlighted that capacity building argument more than anything else. So we've incorporated it into it, and it's now a basis for ongoing bilateral relations.
The final point I would make is that the trade agenda in its own way has now been catapulted to the importance of leaders' levels. If you look at all the G20 communiqués, the G8, the leaders' summits whether they're APEC or whatever, in the last 12 months everyone of them continues to not just urge the conclusion of DOHA or to call for it, but to keep trying to find ways in which momentum and impetus is given to the conclusion of the DOHA Round.
Why? Because trade is an economic stimulus, that multiplier effect. What's the point in calling for coordination of domestic fiscal stimulus unless you're going to work on the multiplier?
The second point, of course, is that a stronger rules-based system is the most effective insurance against protectionism. And, I think in - and this came out in the WTO's recent report - whilst there have been examples of countries reverting to some forms of protectionism, it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as could have been expected. We need to strengthen the resolve to avoid the protectionism, but we need to reinforce the mechanisms that provide the best insurance against it.
Mr Lim:
Well, I think that both Australia and Singapore look at the issue in same light. We both believe that keeping trade open and free is part of the solution to economic recovery and therefore we should work hard at it. In terms of the actual trade performance, the sharp declines that all of us saw in global trade numbers in the fourth quarter of last year and first quarter of this year, I think those sharp declines don't seemed to be repeated in the second quarter.
In the second quarter, we are beginning to see signs of recovery, specifically for Singapore, we will see trade bumping along the bottom, some months up, some months down, and then when the G3 and rest of the world economies embark on a more sustained recovery path, then I think we'll see growth numbers going in positive territory. And I believe that will be the same for Australia.
Reporter (Asahi Shimbun):
I would like to ask regarding the communiqué, page six, paragraph 24, it mentions that both countries will enhance cooperation about people smuggling and human trafficking, what role does Singapore play in enhancing cooperation - given that the hubs for people smuggling are actually from Malaysia and Indonesia for Iraqi people and Afghan people coming into Australia.
And my second question is to defence ministers. I understand the navies of both countries have purchased new submarines, so do the defence ministers of both countries share a common worry regarding the South China Sea, because we have China intending to build a new aircraft carrier? Do you see a common worry in security around the South China Sea?
Mr Yeo:
On people trafficking, Australia is often the country of final destination, so it's important that we work together to stop this vile trafficking of human beings. We work together to cooperate both openly and quietly in staunching that flow.
Mr Faulkner:
As an island nation and island continent, maritime security is absolutely critical for Australia and it's true that we have outlined in our Defence White Paper, our plans in relation to the purchase of additional conventional power submarines. At the moment, of course, Australia does have a fleet of six Collins class submarines, which are a critical element of our nation's defence infrastructure.
We'll continue, as we outlined in our Defence White Paper, the nature and structure of Australia's defence force we see as appropriate to ensure that Australia remains self reliant in terms of its defence capabilities up to the year 2030. And, of course, a significant submarine capability is a critical element of that force structure. It has been, as far as Australia is concerned, a submarine capability, a critical element for many decades. It remains that into the future and certainly as far as Australia is concerned, is integral to our defence posture to the year 2030.
Mr Teo:
I would say that both Australia and Singapore share common aspiration to work together for maritime security in our region along with other countries which are like-minded.
For Singapore, submarines form an integral part of our total and balanced force for our own security needs and also our ability to work together with other countries.
We did discuss the issue of maritime security at our very long breakfast this morning and at the meeting as well. And, we touched on two specific areas, one is the regional maritime security, in particular the development of various structures like the Malacca Straits patrol, which has contributed positively to maritime security, as well as the set up of a maritime information fusion centre in Singapore at the new Changi Command Control Centre, where we will try to work together with other countries to develop maritime situation awareness, and we welcome Australia's interest in having a liaison officer at this information fusion centre.
We also talked about the situation in the Gulf of Aden, where both Australia and Singapore also have interest because the sea routes through the Gulf of Aden impact upon our trading concerns. Singapore has recently sent a ship there for three months and we hope to continue to see how we can continue to make a contribution.
Mr Smith:
The only point I'd make in addition to George's comment is that with people smuggling or human trafficking, we have source countries where we see the substantial push factors; in recent times, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and potentially more recently from conflict in Sri Lanka. And, of course, we have transit countries - countries of final destination, often Australia is the country of final destination. So Australia needs to work very closely with its partners in the region and of course Singapore amongst those.
That's the best way of ensuring we're doing everything we can to combat human trafficking and people smuggling. And we do that not just bilaterally but also as members of the Bali process, which is the regional ministerial and officials forum where we deal with these matters on a regional and cooperative basis. And that ministerial level of the Bali process we conducted in Bali itself over a month or so ago.
Reporter (The Hindu): You have reaffirmed commitment to the FPDA but some time ago, taking shape, Singapore had joined Japan, US and India for a joint exercise but nothing much has been heard since then. Has the project been abandoned?
Mr Faulkner:
Just in relation to Five-Power Defence Arrangements, I think we're we able to in our meeting today to really reinforce the critical importance of these arrangements for both Singapore and Australia and, of course, our other partners, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Malaysia.
We don't underestimate of importance, of course, of a range of other bilateral and multilateral defence arrangements; not only Australia but Singapore and many like-minded countries enter into. The Five-Power Defence Arrangement does remain highly relevant for the contributing nations despite the changes that have occurred in our region. We actually emphasised, as my colleague, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in his introductory remarks, the critical importance of these arrangements by reinforcing the fact that in 2011, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Five-Power Defence Arrangement.
It is an important milestone, certainly in the view of the ministers that were meeting this morning, and I'm sure our counterparts and leaders from those nations that join us in the FPDA, it is a critically important arrangement and we will appropriately acknowledge and commemorate that in its 40th anniversary in 2011.
Mr Teo:
Singapore believes in engaging all like-minded countries in the defence arena. In fact we conduct some 70 bilateral and multilateral exercises each year with various countries. In particular, we have a close relationship with Australia in conducting exercises both in Australia and in Singapore bilaterally and multilaterally.
And we conduct exercises with many countries. With India we have been conducting exercises for a decade and a half; with China, we've just started our first bilateral exercise about two months ago; and of course, we have very close bilateral exchanges without our ASEAN neighbours, we recently had an exercise with Malaysia, we have had exercises with many other countries. So that's the position that we take, we engage all countries.
Reporter (Channel News Asia):
For the two foreign ministers: coming out of the ASEAN meetings where the subject of North Korea was discussed quite privately. There's now this concern that some of the parties involved in the six party talks think that it's fruitless to convene the talks in view of North Korea's actions - what is your message to North Korea and parties involved in the six party talks?
Mr Smith:
We discussed the DPRK and its nuclear program extensively last week and also again today. I think it's true to say that at the ASEAN-related meetings last week, particularly there was an extensive discussion at the ASEAN Regional Forum, there is a very strong view, it's not an unanimous view that it would be in the region's best interest and in the international community's best interest if North Korea was to return to the six party talks as soon as possible and, I think it's also the case that parties to the six party talks with the obvious exception of North Korea would welcome that.
So the sentiments expressed at Phuket were that we have a significant difficulty here. North Korea's provocative acts are effectively a threat to peace and security on the Korean peninsula, a threat and security to our region. And the sooner six party talks resume, then the more prospect there is on progress on that front.
Mr Yeo:
I've really nothing to add to what Steve had said. Thank you very much for coming.
[ENDS]
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