Doorstop Interview by PM Lee Hsien Loong at APEC 2013 in Bali, Indonesia

Q: PM can I just get you to sum up the key takeaways from this APEC meeting and also what has been the chief significance to Singapore?

PM Lee Hsien Loong: I think it was a useful gathering. We talked about trade, we talked about our efforts to follow up on the Bogor Goals which we did from the last Indonesian meeting, and in particular the efforts which are underway such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). We talked about connectivity, how we can bring the APEC countries closer together, physically, with transportation, with fibre, with information, with people movements. We talked about food security, energy security, water security, things which can make a difference to the lives of the people. From our point of view of course trade is a very important issue. We are discussing the TPP, in fact I am going on after this to a meeting with the TPP participants this afternoon. On connectivity, we hope that there will be opportunities if we can develop projects, or if we can develop air links, aviation is an important interest of ours, or logistics. So I think these are areas where it makes a difference and improves peoples’ lives.

Q: PM, what has been the impact of Obama’s absence from talks, especially the TPP, where the US is pushing and there seems to be some backpedalling of some members?

PM Lee: Well I think in substance Obama’s officials are here, the Secretaries are here, Kerry is here, the Trade Representative is here, Froman, of course, the Commerce Secretary is here, so policy-wise the substance is there. The work will continue but of course it is disappointing that the President himself is not present, and it is different when a President says something than when a Secretary says something. It carries the aura and the weight, it is something special.

Q: PM, the government shutdown in the US is continuing now, it is the second week. Are you concerned that the US’ presence in the Asia-Pacific would be affected by its domestic politics increasingly?

PM Lee: Well I think they will keep their armed forces going, I think they passed a resolution to take care of the armed forces’ spending. But the concern of course is that, if you are unable to get consensus on such important issues, then even though you may have good intentions, will you be able to sustain them, and will you be able to support them and fund them and maintain that direction over a period of time? And we have to hope that the Americans will be able to overcome these problems, and maintain their direction despite their domestic difficulties.

Q: PM, can I follow up on that, if there really is a default on the debt ceiling, it will create a financial shock all over the world. Are we prepared for that shock and what would be the impact?

PM Lee: Nobody knows what the impact will be, because it will be the first time it has ever happened, that the Americans have defaulted. As far as the whole of the world’s financial system is concerned, the US government is the zero-risk option. If you lend to the US government, you buy US treasury bills, or US government securities, that is by definition what is the almost risk-free solution. And if that fundamental element is shaken, even the US government can default, I do not know what will happen to your spreads or the rest of the complicated system of financial markets. So you are going into unchartered waters and if you do not need to make such an experiment, I do not think you should do that.

Q: PM, your sense on TPP, what would happen if TPP is not concluded by the end of the year and its implications?

PM Lee: We are working on the TPP, there is some more work to be done but we hope that we are able to complete it by the end of the year. We are meeting this afternoon and we are going to put out a statement. I do not know whether we have settled the final language of the statement or not, I think there is some question how to draft it. But it is something which we have to work very hard to do, because it is the right arrangement to bring together all the important parts of the Asia-Pacific region, and including Singapore. We also find certain issues difficult to deal with, and we are discussing how we can overcome these difficulties, and every country has some of them. So the countries have to get together to get a good deal, but you will not get a perfect deal. Can we do it by the end of the year? I think we should try hard for that deadline.

Q: PM, after today you are going on to Brunei for The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, so what sort of outcomes are you looking for from Singapore’s perspective and what are the key issues?

PM Lee: Well we are talking about the ASEAN 2015, the ASEAN community and reviewing progress and what more we can do, by discussing what to do beyond 2015, because chances are there will be some outstanding business, but even without that, you need to set goals to take us the next stage forward, and from Singapore’s point of view and several of the countries we will be talking about the problems of trans-boundary haze, pollution, which we have been discussing over the last few months, particularly since June when we had the bad episode. And this time we will be discussing it with the leaders, and that is one of the reasons why I have asked Minister Vivian to come and join us for the ASEAN meeting in Brunei.

Q：我们现做华文的一个总结。总理，昨天这个习近平， 他首次在APEC发言，然后他也提到四点，就是说重声他对中国经济增长的信心， 还有接下来他对APEC的边境。您自己对习主席的谈话有什么感想吗？

PM Lee：我看我反应是积极的。我看总国领导人都很清楚他们国内有很多事情要做的。同时在国际上，尤其在区域方面，他们也希望跟各国增强合作， 所以APEC 是亚太地区一个主要的经济论谈。那中国能够积极参与，对我们来说当然是好的。

Q：最后一个就是有关刚才第一个问题，你对APEC的总结可以用中文说多一次?

PM Lee：我看APEC的会议是每年都举行的，每年我们的进展就是一步一步向前进。这一次我们谈的是经济合作的新的可能领域，同时我们也谈了我们的区里互联普通的合作项目， 也谈了一些能源安全，食品安全，水工安全的问题。这都是关系到民生的问题， 因为自由贸易扩展我们的经济来往，能够使所有的经济，所有的人民和公司都受益。那如果说这个互联互通的工作呢，这些新的投资， 这些新的提出的设施无论是陆路的还是水路的网络，这些都能够增强我们的生产力，并且给我们的人民很多的发展和开拓的机会。那水和能源对新加坡来说这是我们自己的问题，我们很难自给自足的，除了水之外，现在我们可以做得到， 可是能源食品，没办法做得到。其他国家有些是食品出口的国家，例如澳大利亚， 澳洲。有些是进口国家，例如中国，或则许多其他亚细安国家， 他们都很关注食品的安全因为民以食为天，并且如果因为气候变化或则因为自然灾害，食品的供应受到中断的话，那人民会受到影响。所以如果我们能够在APEC的框架内搞一些食品安全和能源安全的合作的措施，我看对大家都有好处。

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