Dr Ng: Regional Frameworks and Military Partnerships Facilitate Cooperation Among States

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen speaking at the Maritime Security Roundtable at the 58th Munich Security Conference.

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen spoke on the topic "Bridging Troubled Waters - Rethinking Maritime Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region", as part of a Maritime Security Roundtable at the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) . Alongside Senior Colonel (Retired) Zhou Bo and Reinhard Bütikofer, who is Coordinator in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China for the European Parliament, the session was moderated by Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Dr. Bill Hayton.

In his speech, Dr Ng spoke on developments in the Asia-Pacific region and highlighted the importance of regional frameworks, especially for Singapore. "For Singapore, at the tip of the Asian continent, astride the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca, we sit at the crossroads of Asia and the rest of the World - one of the busiest global maritime routes and over 50% of the world's catch of fish," he said. "For us, it is vital for stability that international laws like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are upheld. Together with like-minded ASEAN countries, we do our part such as in the Malacca Straits Patrol and support efforts like the Trilateral Cooperative Agreement in the Sulu-Celebes seas to address common security threats like terrorism and piracy."

Dr Ng also said that inclusive military partnerships enhance cooperation between states. He added, "One key example is the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), which all [ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus)] navies adopted in 2017. CUES has been practised by the ADMM-Plus militaries since 2019 - most recently at the ASEAN-Russia Naval Exercise last December. Closer to home, Singapore had established centres such as the Information Fusion Centre, the Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre, and the Counter-Terrorism Information Facility to facilitate information sharing, strengthen military-to-military coordination and enhance domain awareness for the Indo-Pacific region. We are grateful for the partnerships and contributions of many countries in these initiatives."

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen is in Germany to attend the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC).

More Resources

Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the Munich Security Conference and NATO Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters Maritime Security Roundtable 2022