SINGAPORE (March 6): Singapore will continue to work with its partners in Asean to seek opportunities for high-level engagement with the new United States (US) administration, as the country remains a critical partner for the region, said Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

He said Singapore considers economics, trade, investment and energy as key priority areas for Asean-US ties under the current Trump administration, which was highlighted during his introductory telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

“The trade and investments from the US into our region support, obviously, hundreds of thousands of jobs in Southeast Asia, but similarly, they also support over 600,000 jobs in America itself.

“This is a mutually beneficial relationship, and Asean's rapidly developing economies present significant opportunities for American companies, including in areas like critical minerals, energy, manufacturing, technology, and artifial intelligence,” he told Parliament on Thursday in response to questions posed by Nominated Member of Parliament Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant.

The MP asked the minister what Singapore considers to be Asean’s key priorities in its relations with the US under the new administration, and what messages Singapore will convey to its US counterparts during the Asean country dialogues and at the East Asia Summit under Malaysia's chairmanship.

Dr Balakrishnan noted that the US is, by a significant margin, the largest foreign investor in Asean. It is also Asean's second-largest trading partner.

He said the US presence in the region, both economically and in defence, has been crucial to maintaining stability and opportunities in this part of the world, noting that one-third of global trade passes through the critical shipping lanes in Southeast Asia, including the Straits of Malacca, the Straits of Singapore, and beyond into the South China Sea.

“We will keep emphasising the mutually beneficial nature of Asean's interactions and engagement with the US. This engagement will continue to contribute, in fact, to the mutual benefit of both Asean and America and create an area in this part of the world that is safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” he said.

Meanwhile, in response to a separate question on Ukraine, the minister said he did not foresee a role for Asean or Singapore in the country’s future peace negotiations with Russia.

“There are far more proximate partners and stakeholders in the dispute, in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, than Southeast Asia,” he said.

Dr Balakrishnan said that considering Asean’s past experience during the Cold War, the region has no intention of allowing itself to become a future arena for proxy wars or to be caught in the strategic contestations between superpowers.

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