Keynote Address by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Foo Cexiang at SBF’s LATAM Conference 2026: Nuevos Caminos – For A Changed World

Your Excellencies,

Chairman of Singapore Business Federation (SBF) Mr Mark Lee,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. Buenos dias and bom dia. A warm welcome to our friends from Latin America, especially those who have travelled to Singapore to be with us today. It is a pleasure to join you at this year’s LATAM Conference.

2. Now in its third edition, the Conference continues to bring together government and business leaders from Singapore and across Latin America to explore opportunities and build new partnerships.

3. I commend SBF for its efforts in bringing our two regions closer together. The theme for this year’s conference is “Nuevos Caminos”. It means new paths or, metaphorically, new opportunities and new horizons. This is apt indeed.

4. For me, I have just taken on a new portfolio spanning the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Manpower. Latin America may be a new portfolio for me, but it is certainly not a new fascination. My earliest introduction to Latin America came through football.

5. Like many Singaporeans of my generation, I was captivated by the 1994 World Cup. I was only nine years old, but I still remember waking up at odd hours to watch the matches.

6. The first players who caught my eye were not even from the team I supported. It was Colombia’s Carlos Valderrama, with his unforgettable hair and extraordinary creativity. And Mexico’s Jorge Campos, the goalkeeper who seemed determined to prove that goalkeepers did not have to dress like goalkeepers.

7. Of course, my favourite player was Roberto Baggio. I followed Italy all the way to the Final, only to watch him endure one of football’s most heartbreaking moments when his penalty sailed over the bar against Brazil.

8. But looking back, what fascinated me was not just the football. Football was the representation, the representation of passion and of the culture. It was the energy that seemed to flow through the region.

9. Many years later, I had the privilege of attending the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. For someone who had grown up watching football on a television set in Singapore, walking into the Maracanã was a surreal experience.

10. The stadium was alive long before kick-off, and that was the highlight. When I think about the passion for football in Latin America, it is actually not the games that I watched,it is what I hear. When we watch the English Premier League, the commentator raises his voice and says, “Goal”. In Latin America, it is not simply “Goal”. It is: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLL!

11. And somehow that tells you everything you need to know about the region. There is a warmth, optimism and enthusiasm that people bring not just to sport, but to culture, business and life itself.

12. As a child, football was my window into Latin America. But as I grew older, I realised football was only one small part of a much richer story.

13. Today, the challenge for many Singapore businesses is similar. Many of us know Latin America through football, coffee and culture. The real opportunity lies in discovering the region beyond those first impressions.

14. For Singapore, we want to make Latin America better known, not only to Singaporeans but also to businesses across Southeast Asia. For many people in this region, Latin America may feel very far away. In reality, it is much closer to us than we realise.

15. The chicken on your dinner table may have come from Brazil. The blueberries in your refrigerator could be from Peru. The salmon you ordered for lunch may have come from Chile. And for some of us, the day only begins after a cup of Brazilian or Colombian coffee.

16. These everyday examples remind us that despite the distance, the connections between our regions are already deeper than many realise.

Singapore-Latin America Economic Relations

17. Our economic links are growing rapidly. Trade in goods between Singapore and Latin America has more than doubled over the past five years to over S$35 billion in 2025. Services trade has also nearly doubled in the same period to over S$21 billion in 2024.

18. These growing flows are a good sign. They show that distance need not be a barrier to doing business between our regions. This is why Nuevos Caminos is especially timely.

19. We are meeting at a time of considerable uncertainty. Geopolitical tensions, disruptions to major trade routes, reconfiguration of major trading routes, and continuing pressures on global supply chains are reshaping how businesses think about markets, partners and resilience.

20. For Singapore, as a small and open economy, this makes it even more important to strengthen our established partnerships while finding new paths for trade, investment and growth. Latin America is an increasingly important part of this effort, with complementary strengths that give us a solid foundation to deepen economic ties between our regions.

Strengthening Singapore-Latin America Trade Architecture

21. Since the last LATAM Conference, we have further strengthened the trade architecture between our regions. This year, we reached a major milestone with the MERCOSUR-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (MCSFTA).

22. The MCSFTA entered into force for Singapore and Paraguay in February, followed by Uruguay in March, and Brazil in August. Our Argentinian friends have recently informed us that the MCSFTA will enter into force for Argentina in November. With that, I am happy to announce that the MCSFTA will be fully in force across Singapore and all four MERCOSUR founding members on 1 November this year!

23. I would also like to express our appreciation to Paraguay, as the Depositary of the MCSFTA, for its important role in supporting the Agreement and its implementation.

24. As the first FTA between MERCOSUR and a Southeast Asian country, the MCSFTA marks a significant step in bringing our two regions closer together. This is an important milestone.

25. But agreements are not valuable because they create headlines. They are valuable because they create confidence. They give businesses greater certainty to invest, hire, expand and build long-term partnerships.

26. In today’s uncertain global environment, that confidence matters more than ever. The Pacific Alliance-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (PASFTA) is another important pillar of our trade architecture with Latin America.

27. The PASFTA entered into force for Singapore, Chile and Peru in May 2025. We look forward to Mexico and Colombia completing their ratification processes, so that businesses across all Pacific Alliance member states can benefit from the Agreement.

28. We have also not forgotten our longstanding bilateral FTAs with our friends from Peru, Panama and Costa Rica, as well as fellow parties and acceding parties of the CPTPP.

29. But trade agreements are only useful if businesses use them. Their true value lies in helping businesses enter new markets more easily and forge new partnerships.

30. If Latin America is a region many Singapore businesses are only beginning to explore, where should we start? Let me suggest three areas where the opportunities are especially promising.

Areas for Deeper Singapore-Latin America Cooperation

31. First, in connectivity and supply chains. Coming from PSA, I have seen first-hand how much our everyday lives depend on reliable connections between ports, businesses and markets. Most of us do not think about supply chains very often. We only notice them when our shipments are delayed.

32. Yet every cup of coffee, every smartphone and every supermarket shelf depends on thousands of connections working seamlessly behind the scenes. A bag of coffee beans or a shipment of frozen chicken travels thousands of kilometres through a complex network of ports, shipping lines, logistics providers and trade systems before reaching a supermarket here in Singapore.

33. There is considerable potential to connect these networks more closely, not only through ports and shipping, but also through digitalisation and trade facilitation.

34. We are already taking concrete steps in this direction. Just last month, Singapore and Brazil signed an MOU to establish the Singapore-Brazil Green and Digital Shipping Corridor (GDSC). The GDSC brings together Brazil’s renewable-energy resources and potential to produce alternative marine fuels with Singapore’s role as the world’s largest bunkering port and a leading global maritime hub.

35. This is a good example of what “Nuevos Caminos” can look like in practice: combining our strengths to make trade more efficient, resilient and sustainable.

36. Second, in agri-food resilience. Latin America is often described as one of the world’s breadbaskets. It is the largest net food exporter globally, producing enough food for nearly 1.3 billion people, more than twice its own population. For Singapore, which imports more than 90% of our food, Latin America is an important partner in strengthening our food resilience.

37. Latin America already contributes to the diversity of Singapore’s food supply in ways that are familiar to many Singaporeans. Brazil is one of Singapore’s top three sources of chicken and also supplies us with beef and pork. Mexican avocados and Argentine beef are familiar to Singapore consumers as well. And the range is growing. This April, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approved processed poultry and pork from Peru for import.

38. The opportunity also extends beyond Singapore. With our connectivity, logistics capabilities and trusted food-safety regulations, Singapore can serve as a platform for Latin American food producers seeking to reach consumers across Southeast Asia.

39. Third, in green and digital economies. The global transition towards cleaner energy is creating new opportunities for our regions to collaborate. This transition will require not only new technologies, but also the resources needed to power them. Take an electric vehicle, for example. Its battery relies on lithium, while copper is needed throughout the vehicle and the electricity grid that charges it.

40. Latin America is a major global source of such critical minerals, which will become increasingly important as demand for clean energy technologies grows. In many ways, the world’s green transition will be shaped by resources that are abundant in Latin America and technologies that are being developed around the world.

41. This creates natural opportunities for collaboration between our regions. Beyond resources, our cooperation can also extend to green solutions.

42. Singapore has signed Implementation Agreements on Carbon Credits Collaboration with Peru, Chile and Paraguay, our first such agreements with partners in Latin America. We are now working to implement these Agreements. Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Ms Grace Fu led a carbon credits business mission to all three countries in April to explore potential partnerships.

43. There is similar potential in the digital economy. Latin America is fast emerging as a hub for digital innovation, particularly in fintech and e-payments. Today, the region is home to more than 3,000 fintech companies, attracting nearly US$3 billion in venture capital in 2024. Brazil’s digital payment system Pix is a striking example. A digital solution similar to Singapore’s PayNow, Pix has grown to more than 170 million users since its launch in 2020, reaching around four in five Brazilians.

44. For Singapore and Southeast Asian businesses, this points to a large and digitally savvy market. Singapore companies are already finding opportunities in this space. Shopee entered Brazil in 2019, and has since grown to become one of the country’s leading e-commerce platforms, connecting more than 3 million Brazilian sellers to consumers country-wide. Our governments are also helping to create the conditions for more of such connections.

45. Singapore and Chile, together with New Zealand, founded the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), the world’s first standalone digital trade agreement, to facilitate digital trade and promote interoperability between our digital economies.

46. I am also pleased to share that Costa Rica has recently acceded to the DEPA, while Peru has concluded its accession negotiations.

Conclusion

47. Today’s Conference is an opportunity for us to look at each other’s regions with fresh eyes.

48. For Singapore and Southeast Asian businesses, Latin America offers growing markets, trusted partners and expanding opportunities in food, sustainability, digital innovation and logistics.

49. For Latin American businesses, Singapore’s strengths in trade, connectivity, finance and innovation make us a natural gateway into Southeast Asia.

50. This brings me back to “Nuevos Caminos”. As a nine-year-old watching the 1994 World Cup, Latin America felt exciting, inspiring and very far away. Three decades later, our regions are closer than ever.

51. The pathways have been built through agreements such as the MCSFTA and PASFTA. But the next chapter will not be written by governments alone. It will be written by businesses, by investors, by entrepreneurs.

52. And by people who are willing to venture into new markets, build new partnerships and discover new opportunities together.

53. That, ultimately, is what “Nuevos Caminos” is about.

54. I look forward to visiting the sponsor booths later and learning more about the opportunities that our Latin American partners are showcasing. We will also shortly commemorate the entry into force of the MCSFTA for Singapore and all four MERCOSUR founding members.

55. I wish all of you a fruitful Conference ahead. Muchas gracias and muito obrigado!