Opening Remarks by PM Lawrence Wong at the 2025 'Summer Davos' WEF Dialogue

Thanks again, Børge, for the introduction. I think we are meeting at a time of profound changes in the world. After the end of the Cold War, the world saw an unprecedented period of global integration, characterised by open markets, free trade, rapid movement of capital goods, ideas and people across borders. And this brought benefits to many people. And for a long time, this vision held true. Davos embodied this vision - a vision that global integration would deliver peace and shared prosperity.

Unfortunately, I think the world is changing. We see over the years, more pressures and discontent against globalisation has risen. It started way back, I remember in 1999 when the WTO was held in Seattle, you already had demonstrations and protests there. But since then, year after year, you see in advanced economies, cities being destroyed because factories are closed, livelihoods get disrupted, jobs are displaced. And in more recent years, because of COVID-19 and the concerns over supply security, because of conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, now concerns about security have risen, and we are in a very different position today. The global norms, global rules are weakening; global institutions are weakening, and economic nationalism is replacing win-win co-operation.

For small countries like Singapore, we are worried because we have limited options, we have limited bargaining power, and we risk being marginalised. But even bigger countries, I think will have challenges dealing and operating in such a new environment because it will be harder for everyone to deal with common threats - be it pandemics, climate change or financial shocks. So, I think our response has to be collectively to try and still harness forces that will bring people together, promote integration, bring down barriers and strengthen multilateralism. Multilateralism that is more resilient, more inclusive and better suited to the realities of our time. So, Singapore will do our part in this endeavour, whether it is forging partnerships, updating global rules, advancing dialogue or working together with partners like the WEF. The efforts may seem small and incremental, but if like-minded countries everywhere were to do our part, then collectively, I think we can make a difference, and then step by step, hopefully we can lay the groundwork for a new and more stable global order in time to come.

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