South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaking at a business forum on Oct 8 during his state visit to Singapore. - LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE: Singapore and South Korea can enhance supply chain resilience by sharing data on industries and trade flows, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a business forum on Tuesday (Oct 8).
Faced with trade pressures from China, the United States and Japan in recent years, South Korea is looking to long-term economic partner Singapore to mitigate the impact of supply chain disruptions.
“When Korea’s industry supply chain information and Singapore’s data on intermediary trade volume are shared, it will enable us both to stay on track for mutual prosperity in times of economic security challenges,” the visiting President told the 300 business executives gathered at the Ritz-Carlton hotel for the forum.
Earlier in the day at Parliament House, Yoon witnessed the signing of five memorandums of understanding (MoUs), including one on supply chain resilience.
The MoU on supply chain resilience calls for both countries to cooperate to review non-tariff barriers, develop supply chain maps, and jointly research and develop alternative technologies, said Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry.
Both sides will also use stress tests and other means to assess supply chain vulnerabilities. They also aim to better coordinate responses to supply chain disruptions by sharing information and working together to facilitate the delivery of goods and essential services.
Economic security has been high on South Korea’s agenda as the Asian economic powerhouse has faced trade-disrupting pressure from China, the US and Japan in recent years.
China implemented economic sanctions after Seoul allowed the US to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defence systems in South Korea in 2016.
Two years later, the Donald Trump administration revised its free trade agreement with South Korea with the aim of shrinking the country’s trade surplus with the US.
Then in 2019, Japan removed South Korea from its “white list” of trusted trading partners and imposed export controls on three essential semiconductor materials needed by South Korea.
Energy security, or ensuring steady access to energy so that production can continue undisrupted, is another aspect of economic security.
One of the other MoUs signed is for both countries to work together to strengthen the supply chain of liquified natural gas (LNG).
Yoon said at the forum that the LNG swop and joint purchase programme can help keep the supply and price of LNG stable.
Both countries will exchange knowledge about LNG regulatory practices and supply-chain risk management, and train each other’s personnel on LNG procurement, said Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry.
Yoon said that another area of cooperation is to support start-ups from both countries.
Korean start-ups can use Singapore as their test beds, while Singaporean start-ups can pair up with established Korean companies to enter the high-tech industry, he said.
Speaking at the same forum, Dr Tan See Leng, Second Minister for Trade and Industry, urged Korean companies to use Singapore as a springboard into Asean, which is poised to be the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030.
Singaporean and Korean companies and agencies signed 10 MoUs at the forum to signal cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, materials supply and autonomous driving technology. - The Straits Times/ANN
