Asia Pacific Cooperation in the Post Pandemic Era
Brief Presentation by Simon Tay
Introduction
Allow me to begin by thanking the organizers for this year CIRD-China and JEF-Japan. This isa long-standing and valued discussion among us in the region, organized by the JEF and eachof us as partners in turn. I also wish to welcome to Toyoda-san as new Chairman and CEO ofJEF. Much has been said, and I have just five minutes. So may I emphasize three words thatperhaps have not been mentioned as much:• Politics – geopolitical, but also bilateral among countries in our region, and within
our societies.
• Transformation – going beyond efforts to recover ground but how to move forward,
especially for digitalisation and sustainability, as issues that cut across sectors, toemerge stronger, better and greener from the pandemic.
• Agency – looking at how each country, even smaller ones, can try to find paths
forward.
Now and Next:• Re-opening for ASEAN and most in Asia. This has become clear for ASEAN after its
recent summit. The re-opening comes after the bad surges of 2021, and it ispredicated on the speed of raising vaccination rates. There are dangers fromemerging variants of concern and it will be an important effort to re-open linked toefforts to harmonize standards and procedures and to use science and data while
dealing with politics and sensitivity.
• Recovery and Resilience• Reform and Transformation
Pre-existing agenda:• RCEP and CPTPP: These are complete and ratifications are being received, so areapplicants to the CPTPP. There is a need to make these agreements work anddeliver. For the CPTPP, there is a need not only for consensus but to be assured thatthe quality can be maintained by any prospective new member, and by the existing
members in implementation. This is being complicated by geo-politics andcompetition between the major powers, and by bilateral differences also involving
trade.
• BRI and infrastructure: This too has been politicised by some, while others including
Singapore have welcomed China’s initiative. We are now seeing infrastructure
initiatives by the USA and the EU, and this will change the context. There may be one
competition, but hopefully rational competition with more alternatives, rather thanCold War thinking.
• Asean Community and Centrality: In this context, for its members like Singapore,
ASEAN will be central. It can also be of help to its key partners, who share similar
concerns, like South Korea. On some issues however ASEAN will need to accept andeven encourage bilateral and minilateral initiatives – when the group as a whole may
not be ready. ASEAN is important even more important amid the great power rivalry.
But it cannot always answer all needs and initiatives, and there is a need forflexibility.

Accelerating tensions:• Sino-American conflict: We can hope that the Biden-Xi summit can lead to a morestable relationship with “guardrails” and understanding of the sensitivities andlegitimate concerns that each side has. There is little or nothing any one of us can do
to influence this bilateral relationship. But we can hope not to make it worse byband-wagoning. Instead, I believe that countries must take a rational look at theirnational interests issue-by-issue and explain their choices accordingly.
• IRBO: There are concerns that the IRBO is not just unable to move forward but
failing to even keep pace. There is a growing politicization of trade, using trademeasures against others. There is also a need to avoid over politicization overdecisions like 3rd accession to the CPTPP; we need to rationally focus on the qualityof the agreement and ability and will of any party to accept and implement thoseundertakings.
• Domestic constituencies: There will also be need to adapt trade and economic
integration to concerns of equality, opportunities and social changes withincountries. Each country will need to give attention to concerns from their citizens
and show the benefits from economic integration. It may also need to explain topartners the limits they face domestically and again find ways to resolve this basedon rules.
Next integration agendas• Digitalisation: This has been booming during the pandemic and has much promise.
But there are insufficient agreed rules on many issues. There is a need for thining asa region like ASEAN being an interoperable unified bloc with a harmonized approach.
There is also scope for Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs) with other partners, tohelp address issues and be potential pathfinders.
• Sustainability and carbon: There are economic and trade issues that arise from theincreased attention and commitments to climate action. As more Asian countries
commit to carbon neutrality their investment and supply chains across the region
must adjust. There may also be concerns over the effects of Carbon-Based
Adjustment Measures (CBAM) proposed by the EU or other carbon leakage policies
set by our non-Asian trade partners. At the same time, opportunities for cooperationarise and Green Economy Agreements be another path-finding effort.
• Bilateral initiatives: The economic ties with other regions like the EU and with thePacific Alliance in Latin America will be of importance. In themselves they areimportant and with Sino-American tensions, there is even more need for
multilateralism and many partners and supply chains. Beyond these FTAs with DEAsand GEAs, there is a need for bilateral and mini-lateral efforts to move forward aspath finders. These can augment the economic focus of the FTAs. In this regard,
what I see is somewhat like the bilateral FTAs in the early 2000s that then wereexpanded into ASEAN-wide agreements. We may be in a similar time with theinability of major powers to agree, and the multilateral system is so stuck thatbilateral effort are needed to serve as pathfinders in sustainability and ondigitalization. As they progress, these can later be open to more partners and also
integrated into economic trade and investment agreements.

Singapore’s Approach and Initiatives
My small country has declared an endemic strategy to Covid-19 and has started to re-open
both domestically and with travel lanes with key partners – of course with due regard tohealth and safety concerns. We have also had a private-public dialogue called the Emerging
Stronger Taskforce to look at strategies and private sector alliances to move forward. TheSIIA think tank I chair served as a knowledge partner to the Taskforce and we are happy to
see that the region (especially key ASEAN economies), sustainability and digitalization are
writ large as we move forward. Singapore is also actively discussing and negotiating DEAsand GEAs bilaterally, and in ASEAN we are supporting similar initiatives for sustainability anddigitalization. There are many issues to manage both domestically and internationally, but
we remain positive about our region and our abilities to not only recover but to transformto address issues of equity, competitiveness, openness and sustainability as we integrate.