'Karma' for being Singapore is to remain constantly aware and engaged: Vivian Balakrishnan

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan has had a busy September, even though there's still 11 days to the end of the month.

Dr Balakrishnan started the month in Palau, where he attended the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Dialogue , then headed off to Thailand for the Singapore-Thailand Leaders' Retreat on Sept 2.

He then travelled across the Causeway to officiate the opening of Singapore's relocated consulate in Johor Bahru . While in Johor, Dr Balakrishnan took the opportunity to have an audience with Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim and met with Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Upon returning from Malaysia, the foreign minister hosted his Brazilian counterpart who was in Singapore on an official visit, as well as Australian Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs Tim Watts, in between a three-day Parliament sitting.

Just this week, Dr Balakrishnan was in Qatar's Doha to co-chair the third Qatar-Singapore Implementation Monitoring Mechanism , before heading straight to Canada's Ottawa for another two-day visit at the invitation of his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand.

He will be heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next week.

Speaking to the media in Ottawa on Saturday (Sept 19), Dr Balakrishnan was asked by AsiaOne about the stretch of engagements which has taken him across continents.

"This has been a constant," he replied candidly.

Dr Balakrishnan explained that Singapore is exquisitely exposed to external events, pointing to the ongoing conflicts and disruptions to supply chains.

"It's important for us to maintain a very close watch on what is happening, be acutely aware of the dangers, and in some cases, latent dangers that will emerge," he said.

This means engagements will necessarily have to cover the major and middle powers, and even smaller countries.

"So this is a constant. This is the karma for being Singapore," Dr Balakrishnan said.

Economic partnership framework with Canada

On Canada, he noted that the Canadian leadership is focused on expanding both its transatlantic and transpacific opportunities amid its trade tensions with the US .

Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada has secured an offer to become the European Union's first associate member, while applying to join the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force military coalition.

Dr Balakrishnan pointed out that regardless of its situation with the US, Canada is a superpower in energy, both fossil fuels and renewable energy. It also has strength in artificial intelligence, particularly in the academic and scientific aspects.

"It's got technologies and potential for renewable energy. It's also a source of food, and will play an increasingly important role for food security, not only within North America but across the world — both transatlantic and transpacific," he said.

During his visit, Dr Balakrishnan and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand signed a joint statement to set out the two country's commitment to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, energy and food security, two-way investment, supply chain resilience, and public service cooperation.

Dr Balakrishnan said he hopes to get the framework ready within the next few months.

"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."

The two foreign affairs ministers also discussed opportunities to strengthen Canada's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during Singapore's chairmanship in 2027, which also marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Canada Dialogue Relations.

This includes working towards the conclusion of negotiations on the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement.

尽管距离九月底还有 11 天，但外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南的九月行程非常繁忙。

巴拉克里希南博士本月初在帕劳参加了太平洋岛屿论坛领导人对话，然后于 9 月 2 日前往泰国参加新加坡-泰国领导人务虚会。

随后，他跨越长堤前往柔佛州新山，主持新加坡新领事馆的开幕仪式。在柔佛期间，巴拉克里希南博士觐见了马来西亚苏丹易卜拉欣，并会见了首席部长翁哈菲兹·加齐。

从马来西亚返回后，外交部长在为期三天的议会会议间隙，接待了正在新加坡进行正式访问的巴西外长以及澳大利亚印度洋事务特使蒂姆·沃茨。

就在本周，巴拉克里希南博士前往卡塔尔多哈，共同主持了第三届卡塔尔-新加坡执行情况监测机制会议，之后应加拿大同行阿妮塔·阿南德的邀请，直接前往加拿大渥太华进行为期两天的访问。

他将于下周前往纽约参加联合国大会。

周六（9 月 19 日），巴拉克里希南博士在渥太华接受媒体采访时，AsiaOne 记者询问了他近期频繁出访各大洲的情况。

“这种情况一直如此，”他坦率地回答道。

巴拉克里希南博士解释说，新加坡极易受到外部事件的影响，他指出，持续不断的冲突和供应链中断就是例证。

他说：“对我们来说，密切关注事态发展，高度警惕危险，以及在某些情况下，可能出现的潜在危险，这一点非常重要。”

这意味着相关行动必然要涵盖主要大国、中等强国，甚至较小的国家。

“所以这是常态。这就是身为新加坡人的因果报应，”巴拉克里希南博士说。

与加拿大的经济伙伴关系框架

关于加拿大，他指出，在与美国的贸易紧张局势下，加拿大领导层正致力于扩大其跨大西洋和跨太平洋的机遇。

本周早些时候，加拿大总理马克·卡尼宣布，加拿大已获得成为欧盟第一个准成员国的资格，同时正在申请加入由英国领导的联合远征军军事联盟。

巴拉克里希南博士指出，无论与美国的关系如何，加拿大在能源领域都是超级大国，包括化石燃料和可再生能源。加拿大在人工智能领域也实力雄厚，尤其是在学术和科学领域。

他说：“它拥有可再生能源技术和潜力。它也是粮食来源，并将在粮食安全方面发挥越来越重要的作用，不仅在北美，而且在全世界——包括跨大西洋和跨太平洋地区。”

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，阐述了两国致力于深化在新兴技术、能源和粮食安全、双向投资、供应链韧性和公共服务合作等领域的合作。

巴拉克里希南博士表示，他希望在未来几个月内完成框架的准备工作。

“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许多机会，包括为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提供机会。”

两国的外交部长还讨论了在新加坡于 2027 年担任东盟轮值主席国期间，加强加拿大与东盟关系的机会。2027 年也是东盟-加拿大对话关系建立 50 周年。

这包括努力完成东盟-加拿大自由贸易协定的谈判。