Japan-Singapore Relations
The 15th Japan-Singapore Symposium (Overview)
January 26, 2022
On January 26, the 15th Japan-Singapore Symposium, co-sponsored by the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), was held online under the theme of “Japan-Singapore Partnership in Regional Cooperation.” The overview is as follows.
- Opinion leaders from a range of sectors, such as government, academia, media, and business, including Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Mr. KONO Taro, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan (Chairperson of the Japan-Singapore Parliamentary Friendship League) attended this symposium. The symposium was co-chaired by Ambassador SASAE Kenichiro, President of JIIA, and Prof. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Special Adviser of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), National University of Singapore.
- The focus of the discussions at this year’s symposium was on how Japan and Singapore can deepen their cooperation and coordination in various fields including political and security issues and economic challenges, as the situation in the region dramatically changes. The symposium began with keynote speeches (by video message) from Minister Hayashi and Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore.
- Following this, a panel discussion was held with Mr. Kono serving as the commentator, and Dr. KIKUCHI Tsutomu, Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University and Senior Adjunct Fellow, JIIA, Prof. Simon Tay, Chairman, SIIA, Dr. KATADA Saori, Professor, University of Southern California, and Mr. Manu Bhaskaran, CEO, Centennial Asia Advisors, serving as the presenters. The participants made presentations on the future of Japan-Singapore relations from a variety of perspectives, including security, economic partnership, and infrastructure cooperation. Furthermore, the participants concurred on the need to continue to strengthen the bilateral relations in various fields and the importance of both countries’ further contributions to the region.