Singapore exploring Canada as potential energy source, anticipates further fuel disruptions from Middle East: Vivian Balakrishnan

Speaking after his visit to Ottawa, Dr Balakrishnan described Canada as an energy "superpower" in both fossil fuels and renewable energy.

Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand at the signing of a joint statement for the Singapore–Canada Economic Partnership Framework. (Photo: Facebook/Vivian Balakrishnan)

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SINGAPORE: Singapore should anticipate further disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East with the conflict affecting key shipping routes, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Saturday (Sep 19).

Speaking to reporters at the end of visits to Doha and Ottawa, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore is also looking at Canada as a potential source of energy and food.

He said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been a “major, major impediment” to liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Qatar, a major supplier to Singapore.

Singapore has so far been able to cope because it has diversified sources, he added.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less He pointed to problems around the Bab el-Mandeb strait , which could affect exports from Saudi Arabia, as another warning of possible disruptions ahead. “We have to anticipate further disruptions to fuel supply from the Middle East in general,” he said. Singapore will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with its partners, Dr Balakrishnan said. During his stop in Qatar, Dr Balakrishnan said it was important to express Singapore’s solidarity and to explore “preliminary ideas on resilience for the future”. Qatar and Singapore continue to insist on freedom of navigation, particularly in straits used for international navigation, such as the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

He pointed to problems around the Bab el-Mandeb strait , which could affect exports from Saudi Arabia, as another warning of possible disruptions ahead.

“We have to anticipate further disruptions to fuel supply from the Middle East in general,” he said.

Singapore will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with its partners, Dr Balakrishnan said.

During his stop in Qatar, Dr Balakrishnan said it was important to express Singapore’s solidarity and to explore “preliminary ideas on resilience for the future”.

Qatar and Singapore continue to insist on freedom of navigation, particularly in straits used for international navigation, such as the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

POTENTIAL ENERGY, FOOD SOURCE

Describing Canada as an energy “superpower” in both fossil fuels and renewable energy, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore is looking at the country as a potential source of energy and food.

Singapore is also looking at the possibility of having more formal arrangements for trade in essential supplies with Canada.

The two countries are exploring opportunities in artificial intelligence, the digital economy and digital payments.

" All these again are preliminary, but we hope that within the next two to three months, we will have some agreements ripe and ready for signature," he said.

During his visit, Dr Balakrishnan and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand signed a joint declaration that would lead to the establishment of an economic partnership framework.

“We hope to get this ready within the next couple of months, and we were really looking for complementarities between Canada and Singapore and I think this will give us many opportunities, including for Singaporean companies who want to invest in Canada or who want to take advantage of the complementarities in our economy,” he said.

“For Canada, the Pacific, the Asia Pacific, offer many opportunities. It's complementary to the Canadian economy and vast markets in Asia, which will be available to Canada.”

Dr Balakrishnan’s visit to Ottawa was the first visit by a Singapore foreign affairs minister to Canada since 2013, according to Global Affairs Canada.

It followed Ms Anand’s visit to Singapore in October last year, when the countries marked 60 years of diplomatic relations, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Singapore that same month.

Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand. (Photo: Facebook/Vivian Balakrishnan)

Amid trade tensions with the United States, Canada has been looking to expand its economic opportunities across both the Atlantic and Pacific, said Dr Balakrishnan.

He noted that Canada and the US have a “special relationship” and remain tightly integrated economically, politically and at the people-to-people level.

He said that it was not Singapore’s role to become directly involved in the “to-ing and fro-ing” between the two neighbours.

“Having said that, I think it is a path of no regret for Canada to explore opportunities across both the Atlantic and the Pacific, because Canada does have goods and services and products and resources which are in demand all over the world, and Canada should maximise its opportunities for trade and investment across the Asia Pacific and in Europe,” he said.

“So, what is happening now, and the fact that Canadian bandwidth is now allocated across a much broader spectrum of the world, is an opportunity, and it's an opportunity for us in Asia, and in particular for Singapore.”

Dr Balakrishnan said he hoped to see a “significant breakthrough” in negotiations for an ASEAN-Canada free trade agreement. Singapore takes over the ASEAN chairmanship from the Philippines on Jan 1, 2027.

“Canada is now looking for opportunities ... on a global level, as I said, across the Pacific and across the Atlantic, and the fact that Canada is now focused on doing this is an opportunity, especially for us in the Asia Pacific, where we see Canada as another like-minded partner.

“We believe in globalisation, rules-based, liberal, free and fair trade. It's a source of investment, a source of technology, a source of energy. So it's a complementary relationship, which I would say is overdue.

“But now that the stars are aligned, we should maximise the opportunities in this relationship,” he said.

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巴拉克里希南博士在访问渥太华后表示，加拿大在化石燃料和可再生能源方面都是能源“超级大国”。

新加坡外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南和加拿大外交部长阿妮塔·阿南德签署新加坡-加拿大经济伙伴关系框架联合声明。（图片：Facebook/Vivian Balakrishnan）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：新加坡外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南周六（9月19日）表示，由于冲突影响了主要航运路线，新加坡应预料到来自中东的能源供应将进一步中断。

巴拉克里希南博士在结束对多哈和渥太华的访问后对记者表示，新加坡也在将加拿大视为潜在的能源和食品来源。

他表示，霍尔木兹海峡的关闭对卡塔尔（新加坡的主要液化天然气供应国）的液化天然气出口造成了“重大障碍”。

他补充说，新加坡目前能够应对这种情况，是因为它的能源来源多元化。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 他指出曼德海峡周边地区的问题可能会影响沙特阿拉伯的出口，这是未来可能出现中断的另一个警告。“我们必须预料到来自中东的燃料供应总体上会进一步中断，”他说。巴拉克里希南博士表示，新加坡将继续密切关注局势，并与合作伙伴共同努力。巴拉克里希南博士在访问卡塔尔期间表示，表达新加坡的声援并探讨“未来韧性的初步想法”至关重要。他说，卡塔尔和新加坡将继续坚持航行自由，尤其是在用于国际航行的海峡，例如霍尔木兹海峡。

他指出曼德海峡周边地区存在问题，可能会影响沙特阿拉伯的出口，这再次预示着未来可能出现中断。

他说：“我们必须预料到来自中东的燃料供应总体上会进一步中断。”

巴拉克里希南博士表示，新加坡将继续密切关注局势，并与合作伙伴共同努力。

巴拉克里希南博士在卡塔尔停留期间表示，表达新加坡的声援并探讨“未来韧性的初步想法”非常重要。

他说，卡塔尔和新加坡将继续坚持航行自由，尤其是在霍尔木兹海峡等国际航行海峡。

潜在能量，食物来源

巴拉克里希南博士称加拿大是化石燃料和可再生能源领域的“超级大国”，并表示新加坡正在将加拿大视为潜在的能源和粮食来源地。

新加坡也在考虑与加拿大就基本物资贸易达成更正式的安排。

两国正在探索人工智能、数字经济和数字支付领域的合作机遇。

“所有这些都还只是初步的，但我们希望在接下来的两到三个月内，能够达成一些成熟且可以签署的协议，”他说。

访问期间，巴拉克里希南博士与加拿大外交部长阿妮塔·阿南德签署了一份联合声明，这将促成经济伙伴关系框架的建立。

“我们希望在接下来的几个月内完成这项工作，我们一直在寻找加拿大和新加坡之间的互补性，我认为这将给我们带来很多机会，包括那些想在加拿大投资或想利用我们经济互补性的新加坡公司，”他说。

“对加拿大而言，太平洋地区，尤其是亚太地区，蕴藏着许多机遇。它与加拿大经济相辅相成，加拿大可以充分利用亚洲广阔的市场。”

据加拿大全球事务部称，巴拉克里希南博士此次访问渥太华是自 2013 年以来新加坡外交部长首次访问加拿大。

此前，阿南德女士于去年 10 月访问新加坡，当时两国庆祝建交 60 周年；同月，加拿大总理马克·卡尼也访问了新加坡。

新加坡外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南与加拿大外交部长阿妮塔·阿南德合影。（图片来源：Facebook/Vivian Balakrishnan）

巴拉克里希南博士表示，在与美国的贸易紧张局势下，加拿大一直在寻求扩大其在大西洋和太平洋地区的经济机会。

他指出，加拿大和美国有着“特殊关系”，并在经济、政治和民间交往层面保持着紧密的联系。

他表示，新加坡不应直接介入这两个邻国之间的“来回往复”关系。

“话虽如此，我认为加拿大探索大西洋和太平洋两岸的机遇是一条不会后悔的道路，因为加拿大拥有世界各地都有需求的商品、服务、产品和资源，加拿大应该最大限度地利用其在亚太地区和欧洲的贸易和投资机会，”他说。

“所以，现在的情况，以及加拿大带宽现在被分配给世界各地更广泛的地区，这是一个机遇，对我们亚洲人来说是一个机遇，尤其是对新加坡来说。”

巴拉克里希南博士表示，他希望看到东盟与加拿大自由贸易协定谈判取得“重大突破”。新加坡将于2027年1月1日从菲律宾手中接过东盟轮值主席国一职。

“正如我所说，加拿大现在正在全球范围内寻求机会……包括太平洋地区和大西洋沿岸地区。加拿大现在专注于此，这对我们亚太地区来说是一个机会，因为我们视加拿大为另一个志同道合的伙伴。”

“我们相信全球化，相信以规则为基础的自由、公平的贸易。它是投资的来源，技术的来源，能源的来源。所以它是一种互补关系，我认为这种关系早就应该建立了。”

“但现在时机成熟，我们应该最大限度地利用这段关系带来的机会，”他说。

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