Q&A Session at the Press Conference between PM Lee Hsien Loong and Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoğlu (Oct 2014)

Q: This question is for Prime Minister Lee. Could you share with us what are some of the tangible outcomes besides what you have just shared from this strategic partnership specifically on civil aviation cooperation? Will the strategic partnership pave the way for open skies agreement or anything like that in the future? Thank you.

PM Lee Hsien Loong: Well the strategic partnership covers a wide range of areas – cultural cooperation, educational cooperation, economic cooperation, security cooperation. But also under economic cooperation, it covers transportation and transportation includes civil aviation. Singapore has an important air hub in the Far East. I think Istanbul has become a very important air hub in this part of the world between Asia and Europe. It already has 40 million passengers a year. We have about 50 million in Singapore. I think both countries have intentions to develop their air hubs further considerably. Here in Turkey, you are building a new airport in Istanbul which will have eventually 150 million passenger capacity. We are building Terminal 4 in Singapore which will take us to 70 plus million passengers a year and the new Terminal 5 which is at a third runway in Changi which will also take us to about 150 million passengers. So I think that we both have interest in building ourselves up as hubs in our respective parts of the world and we complement each other because we are 11 hours flying distance apart and in different time zones. I think that enhancing our air services between the two countries and beyond the countries, the two hubs, is a significant agenda item which we would like to pursue. Our officials have been talking about it and I discussed this with the Prime Minister also. We look forward to making progress to enhance the air services agreement and I am sure both Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines would benefit from this/

Q: Question in Turkish.

PM Lee: Well, we want to do business around the world and be friends with as many countries as we can especially in our neighbourhood but around the world. We see opportunities to cooperate and to work together in many parts of the world whether if they are in peace or even if there are regional difficulties where there are countries which are stable, which are able to look beyond the immediate problems and which have the intention to cooperate with us for the long-term.

You have to mindful of immediate issues of course but at the same time, you have to able to look beyond the immediate issues to consider what the long-term trajectory is, whether the governments are stable, whether there is that ability to maintain a strategic direction over a long period of time and to deliver results beyond just reacting to events. I think from that point of view, Singapore sees Turkey as a country of opportunity. I believe our businessmen also do so. When I came on this trip, I invited a business delegation to come and we have got a very strong response from the business community. More than 20 companies have come with me to Istanbul and Ankara and some of them already doing business in Turkey. For example, PSA, our port have a very successful joint venture with Akfen Holdings to operate mass import in Turkey and they tell me that it has been voted the best port in Turkey several years in a row and I think many other Singapore companies have seen this success and would like to come here and see what they can do here. So I would say we watch the environment but we are not deterred. If the business opportunities are there and if the government is able to provide a positive business environment and political certainty, I think these are important factors which will weigh on the plus side.

PM Ahmet Davutoglu: Reply in Turkish.

Q: Good afternoon Prime Minister. I would like to address this question to PM Davutoglu. Looking at the current situation and tension in the Middle East – a follow up question to the earlier one – how has it affected investor confidence? You also talked about welcoming Singapore businesses to do business in Turkey so what assurance can you give in terms of the risk that the Middle East region is currently facing?

PM Davutoglu: Reply in Turkish.

PM Lee: Can I with your permission add a little bit to that just to put some perspective on this? We have been, Singapore, in a similar situation before. When we first became independent, South East Asia was not quite a calm and peaceful place as it is today. ASEAN did not exist, there were tensions, there were conflict and the Vietnam war was progressing. We needed to develop Singapore and we decided that the way to do it was to make friends with our neighbours but at the same time we established in the middle of the third world, a place, a city, a country with first world standards of government, administration, services, infrastructure. We gave investors confidence to come and invest, and to help us develop, grow and take off. We were able on that basis to welcome in MNCs from America, Japan, Europe, Hewlett Packard, Exxon, Shell and so many more. They came to Singapore, invested, and we took off and grew. The region prospered in time and we integrated the region at the same time. So when you ask, “Are there problems in the region around Turkey?” The answer is yes. Is that a veto which will cause us no longer to look at the opportunities which are there, I think we should look at our history and we will know the answer.

PM Davutoglu: Thank you. Excellent answer.

Q: Question in Turkish.

PM Davutoglu: Reply in Turkish.              

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