DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum 2024

His Excellency Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. I am delighted to join you at this Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum in conjunction with President Tokayev’s State Visit to Singapore.

Let me first warmly welcome President Tokayev and his delegation to Singapore.

This may be his first visit here as President, but President Tokayev is no stranger to Singapore.

He served as a diplomat here many years ago, and subsequently visited us in his capacity as Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Kazakh Senate. 

So President Tokayev knows that when he is in Singapore, he is among good friends.

President Tokayev’s busy schedule over the next 2 days reflects the strong ties and mutual trust between Singapore and Kazakhstan. 

Earlier this morning, President Tokayev met President Tharman and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the Istana. Just before this Forum, he and I had a good discussion on areas where we can further enhance our cooperation.

President Tokayev will also be renewing other long-standing friendships during his visit.

This warmth and camaraderie between our leaders, going back to founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former President Nursultan Nazarbayev has anchored the steady growth in Singapore-Kazakhstan ties.

Last year, in 2023, we marked 30 years of diplomatic relations.

Over the decades, we have established wide-ranging collaborations in areas such as connectivity, education and governance, trade and investment, and human resource development.

Earlier today, our governments signed Memoranda of Understanding to develop closer economic, legal and security cooperation, as well as to deepen linkages in higher education.

Both countries recognise that an open and rules-based international economic system is an important driver of growth and development to uplift our peoples and enhance their lives and livelihoods.

In fact, among Central Asian countries, Singapore has the largest goods trade and bilateral investment flows with Kazakhstan.

In 2023, bilateral goods trade grew by nearly 50% to over S$600 million. We should build on this strong base and grow these linkages further.

Our businesses have an important role to play in this.

By fostering deeper collaborations, businesses can help to grow the economic pie on both sides and strengthen people-to-people connections.

One of the agreements that our governments signed earlier was on the distribution and translation of Singapore Standards.

This will help to facilitate knowledge exchange and further business collaboration opportunities between Singapore and Kazakhstan.

This Business Forum represents another positive step in this direction.

I trust that the businesses here today have used this Forum as an opportunity to connect with one another.

By doing so, you can enhance your understanding of market opportunities, not only in Singapore and Kazakhstan, but also in the wider Southeast Asian and Central Asian regions. 

As we wrap up the Forum, I would like to highlight two threads that bind us and will shape our countries’ economic trajectories.

First, both Singapore and Kazakhstan are part of a dynamic, vibrant and growing Asia.

In an increasingly uncertain and divided world, Asia remains a bright spot with strong economic potential.

Asia accounts for nearly 60% of the global population and is home to 18 of the 20 fastest-growing trade corridors.

The International Monetary Fund has projected 5.2% growth for Asia in 2024, higher than the 3.2% estimate for global growth.

At the same time, countries across Asia must also address common challenges – such as climate change, the digital revolution, and ageing demographics – to fully realise this growth potential.

These are important issues which businesses from Singapore and Kazakhstan should work together to tackle in the years ahead.

So I am heartened to hear that you had panels earlier discussing topics like finance, connectivity and new growth areas.

This brings me to my second point, which is that Singapore and Kazakhstan should work together to catalyse greater and more impactful innovations to shape a better future for ourselves, our regions and the rest of the world.

Historically, we have leveraged our strategic locations to facilitate flows of trade, investment, peoples and ideas – within Southeast Asia and Central Asia respectively, as well as globally.

Kazakhstan, for instance, has successfully positioned itself as a key hub for Eurasian overland trade.

Similarly, Singapore has developed ourselves to become a major maritime and aviation node connecting Asia, Europe and the rest of the world.

In an era of growing fragmentation and rising anti-globalisation sentiments, Singapore strives to be a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise – connecting with vibrant nodes across Asia, and between Asia and the world.

Investing in research and development is critical to addressing many of the shared challenges I mentioned earlier, such as climate change and an ageing population.

We are keen to collaborate with like-minded partners, including Kazakhstan, to advance science and technology and develop solutions to these shared challenges.

By working together, we can foster an environment that supports innovation and new breakthroughs. This, in turn, can unlock new trade and investment opportunities for our business communities.

Indeed, between Singapore and Kazakhstan, we have already put in place the foundations for this.

In October 2019, Singapore signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Framework Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Kazakhstan is a member, to strengthen trade and investment linkages, enhance business networks and lower business costs.

Building on this, we also signed a Kazakhstan-Singapore Services and Investment Agreement last year to anchor our bilateral economic ties going forward.

This forward-looking agreement lowers barriers to entry for companies on both sides, enabling better market access across a range of service sectors such as specialised medicine and interdisciplinary R&D.

Singapore looks forward to the ratification of the Services and Investment Agreement and its entry into force.

This will provide greater legal certainty to investors on both sides and pave the way for more linkages and collaborations.

Ultimately, while governments lay out conducive frameworks through cross-border agreements, the private sector must harness these to work together and generate business and growth for our economies, and our peoples.

I am therefore happy to see that a number of our companies, such as PSA Group and SingPost, will be signing agreements later to establish and expand collaborations in Kazakhstan.

These partnerships reflect the growing mutual interest between our business communities and represent a further step forward in our growing economic and commercial ties.

In conclusion, I hope that today’s Business Forum has energised companies from Singapore and Kazakhstan with ideas for new collaborations, and will catalyse new partnerships in the years ahead.

Congratulations to the Singapore Business Federation, Kaz Invest and the Embassy of Kazakhstan for organising a successful Forum.

Let me also thank President Tokayev for gracing the Forum with your presence.

I wish you and your delegation, as well as all Kazakh friends here today, a meaningful and memorable time in Singapore. 

Rakhmet. [Note: Means “thank you” in Kazakh.]

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