Earlier this year, DBS Bank joinedContour, which focuses on shortening end-to-end Letter of Credit (LC) settlement by digitalising the creation, exchange, and issuance of LCs on a blockchain. Likewise, the maritime industry can explore linking up with customers and other stakeholders through digitally connected platforms. There are efforts already underway. Singapore is working with our ASEAN partners, China, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and others on areas like digital customs connectivity, recognising electronic certificates and connecting maritime single windows to facilitate port clearance and streamline documentation. The MPA-DBS MoU being signed today is another example. The MoU will support efforts to digitalise financial services and payments across Singapore’s maritime industry. This includes streamlining and expediting payments among users of maritime services, and digitalising supporting documents for financing. Automation and digital technologies present opportunities to improve efficiency and provide better service across logistics, port operations, and shipping. In port operations and warehousing, intelligent connected systems can facilitate predictive maintenance of autonomous vehicles and robotic cranes. In logistics and freight services, robotic process automation and digital platforms can improve coordination with service providers and customers. In shipping, smart sensors can allow remote monitoring and diagnostics of ships. Singapore has adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to promote digitalisation. The Maritime Digitalisation Playbook, co-created by MPA, IMDA, and the Singapore Shipping Association, provides a useful guide to help maritime companies achieve purposeful digital transformation. Resilient Workforce Third, building a resilient workforce in the face of technological change. To do this, we need to understand how technology will affect jobs.

My third issue is a reality. The reality here is that in finance, and perhaps in other areas, it is difficult if not impossible to find a textbook perfect market, where, for example, market participants are all price takers and not in a position – and therefore not having the incentive – to try and move markets in their favour. Fear or greed, fed by information or misinformation, stoked by manipulative or predatory behaviour by a few, often takes hold, to such an extent as to produce volatility well beyond prudent risk management parameters, threatening a complete meltdown of the financial system or other forms of systemic breakdown. As supervisors of financial institutions and regulators of financial markets, our duty is to do our best to prevent these situations from occurring, but we have to accept that we too are not perfect, particularly when supervision and regulation at the national level have their shortcomings in dealing with financial institutions and markets that are already global in nature. Whatever combination of market freedom and regulatory oversight one cares to design and try out, markets do fail, sometimes inflicting huge damage to the public interest, defined in terms of ensuring that the financial system operates effectively in support of the economy. The damage to the public interest could well be much greater than that arising from not allowing the free market to find its equilibrium on its own. We certainly hope that these situations do not occur too often.