Speech By SMS Koh Poh Koon At Singapore's National Day Ceremony At Astana Expo-2017

​SPEECH BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AT SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL DAY CEREMONY AT ASTANA EXPO-2017, ON TUESDAY, 25 JULY 2017, 1115 HRS, NATIONAL DAY STAGE, ASTANA EXPO-2017, ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN

His Excellency Yerlan Khairov, Vice Minister of Investments and Development,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.          Salemetsiz be[1]! A very good morning to everyone. It is my pleasure to be here in Astana for Singapore’s National Day at EXPO-2017.

2.          I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Kazakhstan for your success in organising this important event. This impressive achievement marks a new milestone in Kazakhstan’s accomplishments on the global stage. With more than 130 participating countries and international organisations, the successful execution of the Astana Expo is testament to the capability, determination, and dynamism of Kazakhstan and its people.

Singapore-Kazakhstan Bilateral Relations

3.          Singapore and Kazakhstan have built strong relations and a warm friendship over the years. Kazakhstan is an important partner for Singapore in this region, not just as a significant and growing market, but also as a potential gateway to the Eurasian Economic Union and the rest of the Central Asian region. Singapore strives to play a similar role in our region. We have fostered a vibrant ecosystem for local and international businesses to thrive and take advantage of opportunities in the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia. This makes Singapore a useful gateway for Kazakh companies interested in exploring opportunities in our region.

4.          At the government level, we are working together to build sound foundations for business and investment links to grow. Besides an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA), which came into force in 2007, we recently concluded a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) that will give potential investors greater assurance and certainty when investing in our respective markets. Singapore is also working with Kazakhstan and the Eurasian Economic Union to launch negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement. With these agreements in place, I am confident that business and investment ties between Kazakhstan and Singapore will continue to strengthen.

Singapore: “Small City, Big Ideas”

5.          Singapore is a small country roughly the size of Astana[2], and we are not well-endowed with natural resources. Although we face constraints, we have not let this limit us. Despite not having any oil or gas reserves, Singapore is a significant player in the oil and gas industries. We have transformed Jurong Island into one of the largest petrochemical refineries in the world, and Singapore is one of the leading hubs for the trading of oil and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in Asia.

6.          In the area of energy, Singapore is constantly innovating and testing new ideas to achieve our objectives of energy security, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability. The challenges that Singapore faces as a city are not unique, and we see ourselves as a living laboratory for creating and testing solutions that could be deployed in cities around the world. For example, the world’s largest underground district cooling network is located at the Marina Bay financial district in Singapore. Chilled water is centrally produced, and piped to buildings in the district for air conditioning. Customers enjoy energy savings of more than 40 percent, and the rooftop space is freed up for other purposes such as swimming pools or sky gardens. In 2009, the Building Construction Authority of Singapore retrofitted an existing building in its Academy into Southeast Asia’s first Zero Energy Building, a building which produces enough energy to supply its own energy needs[3]. Over the years, through better designs and technologies, the Zero Energy Building now produces more energy than it consumes annually. Today, the building serves as a test bed for the integration of advanced building technologies into our buildings. These are examples of some of the ideas we have featured in the Singapore Pavilion, which we hope to share at the Expo.

7.          Over the course of the Expo, Singapore is also organising a series of workshops for policy makers and experts from Central Asia. The workshops look at topics such as renewable energy and low carbon technologies. Our hope is to share some of Singapore’s experience in these areas, and encourage discussions and cross-pollination of ideas with delegates from the region. This would enable us to work together towards a more sustainable future.

Encouraging Closer Cooperation

8.          Beyond strengthening relations between our governments, there is more that we can do to strengthen trade and business links between Kazakhstan and Singapore. This week, the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) is leading a group of Singapore businesses to explore possible opportunities in Kazakhstan. They visited Almaty earlier this week, and are now here in Astana.  For many of them, this is their first trip to Kazakhstan, and I trust that it has been a useful opportunity for them to develop a better understanding of the Kazakh market first-hand.

9.          This is an encouraging step forward, and I am confident that this trip will pave the way towards more regular exchanges between our people and our business communities in the future.

Conclusion

10.      In closing, I would like to thank the government of Kazakhstan and the people of Kazakhstan for being such wonderful hosts to us in Astana. I look forward to seeing more of the Expo today.  

11.   Raxmet[4].

* * * * *

[1] “Salemetsiz be” is a formal greeting in the Kazakh language.

[2] Singapore is 719 km2, and Astana is 722 km2 in size.

[3] The ZEB does so through a combination of green building technology, a “passive” building design that takes advantage of natural ventilation and lighting, and harnessing solar energy.

[4] “Raxmet” means “thank you” in the Kazakh language. 

​​​​