Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean, at the Opening Ceremony of IMDEX Asia 2009

Good Morning, Excellencies, Navy Chiefs, Coast Guard Directors-General, Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Singapore and to the seventh International Maritime Defence Exhibition, IMDEX Asia 2009.The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (or UNCLOS), concluded in 1982, is a landmark treaty. It balanced the desire of coastal states who wanted to claim more rights over wider areas of adjacent seas, with the desire of user states and other states with legitimate interests to sea access, who wanted to ensure that the high seas rights already existing in the world's seas and oceans were not reduced.The balance struck in UNCLOS is a critical one for all stakeholders who desire peace and stability at sea. Without UNCLOS, contests over rights between states, and between coastal states and other states over use of the sea have the potential to flare up into confrontation and conflict. It is thus in the interest of both user states and coastal states to respect and preserve that careful balance struck in UNCLOS. Indeed, many states are both user states as well as coastal states, and hence they would want to ensure that this balance is maintained.An estimated 90% of world trade is conducted by sea. The security of Sea Lines of Communication and the freedom to navigate them are therefore vital to international stability and prosperity. The freedom of navigation as provided for under UNCLOS is thus critical to the health of the world economy. Sustained global economic growth depends on an international order that upholds the rule of law and ensures stability, security and freedom of trade. A Flexible and Inclusive Approach The piracy situation in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia is a clear illustration of how insecurity in one part of the world has global ramifications. The nature and scale of disruption to the security of the Sea Lines of Communication there demands an international response. There are various naval groupings operating off Somalia: from the EU and NATO, the US-led Combined Task Force or CTF 151, as well as ships from various other navies operating independently. Singapore has also sent a Landing Ship Tank (LST), the RSS Persistence, with two Super Puma helicopters embarked, to be deployed for three months. She is operating with CTF 151 to conduct sector patrols to deter pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden. While naval action to deter and disrupt the pirates is critical to restoring immediate order and confidence in this important maritime artery, the situation in the Gulf of Aden is much more complex. Issues such as the prosecution of pirates-under-capture and coordination of naval resources continue to limit the effectiveness of these efforts. This means that a flexible and inclusive approach towards the Gulf of Aden situation is needed until a more lasting solution can be found on shore. The situation in the Gulf of Aden demonstrates again that contemporary security challenges can no longer be solved by a single country or a small exclusive group of countries acting on its own. The response to the situation in the Gulf of Aden requires a broader range of actors and stakeholders to be co-opted and engaged. Only then will we collectively have the capacity, resources, reach, ideas and expertise to deal with the problem.Maritime groupings in the Asia-PacificIn the Asia-Pacific, we have seen many encouraging examples of flexible groupings mounting cooperative responses in the maritime domain.For example, through the Western Pacific Naval Symposium, navies in the Asia-Pacific have worked well together over the past two decades to build confidence, and then graduate to building capacity to tackle common maritime challenges at the operational level. In this region, the Malacca Straits Patrols that bring together Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand are a good example of cooperative action that has delivered tangible results. The Malacca Straits Patrols have contributed substantially to bringing piracy levels down in regional waterways, through collaborative deterrence, information-sharing and sense-making, as well as coordinated responses at sea. Such operational groupings help to translate policy dialogue into ground action.Besides functional groupings, broader security groupings and dialogues, such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting, the East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum and the Shangri-La Dialogue, play a role in catalysing and shaping cooperative responses. The Mumbai attacks have also shown the need not just to guard against attacks at sea, but also attacks originating from the sea - terrorists can exploit porous maritime borders to infiltrate from the sea to inflict damage on targets ashore. Singapore has recently established the Maritime Security Task Force (or MSTF) with representatives from Singapore's Police Coast Guard (PCG), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), and the Singapore Customs (Customs). The MSTF ensures close coordination in the execution of maritime security operations at the national level and enhances Singapore's ability to respond swiftly and effectively to potential maritime security threats to our shores and waters. The MSTF's awareness of the regional maritime situation will also be significantly enhanced through information sharing with both national and international maritime agencies. Role of IMDEXIMDEX and its associated events present the opportunity for all of us to engage each other, deepen existing partnerships, establish new ones, and expand the network of cooperation. The Republic of Singapore Navy and SINGEX have put together four days worth of end-to-end maritime security activities: from a defence exhibition, the inaugural international maritime security conference, to capacity-building ashore through the inaugural Maritime Information Sharing Exercise conducted at the Changi C2 Centre's Information Fusion Centre, and the Western Pacific Naval Symposium exercise at sea.I note that we have a wide range of experts from navies and coast guards, academia, the defence and security industry, shipping companies and associations, as well as other maritime-related companies. Such a mix of participants will promote richer interactions and conversations. I am told that a total of 140 exhibitors, 41 navies and coast guards, as well as over 5000 delegates are present at IMDEX Asia 2009. This is a clear manifestation of the collective will to interact and develop greater inter-operability with other maritime partners. I would particularly like to welcome the 18 visiting ships from 13 countries, which have come to take part in IMDEX.I am confident that IMDEX Asia 2009 will provide the opportunity to build mutual trust, understanding and confidence by discussing issues of contention, and seeking practical win-win partnerships and solutions. It now gives me great pleasure to declare IMDEX Asia 2009 open. Thank You.