Dear Members and Friends

This year’s Apec summit seemed to produce a lot of common sense evidenced by the shared commitments of member countries to multilateralism and the rules-based, multilateral trading system. As usual, Singapore played a constructive role and will continue to do so.

As President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has pointed out previously, many of the economic challenges faced by communities and countries around the world are not the fault of globalization. They are the result of a failure of domestic policy. This is where the focus needs to be rather than succumbing to the beggar-thy-neighbor, siren call of populist leaders. The truth is there are no easy answers to complex challenges. There is only consistent hard work, compromise and trade-offs just like those trade negotiators are all too familiar with.

Fora like Apec are important for small, open economies such as ours. They give us a seat at the table. They give us an opportunity to contribute constructively and to lead. They are also important guiding lights for what is important and needed in business today. We all need to work more closely together and chambers and trade associations need to lead the way.

This is not as easy as it might first appear nor as easy as it should be. Trust is needed. Co-operation is needed. Competing for members at joint chamber events destroys trust. However challenging it may be, working together is needed now more than ever given the multiple challenges our world is placing before us. How shall we respond? Shall we be isolationists or shall we do the right thing and be collaborators? Let’s be inclusive like Apec.

Yours faithfully
Victor Mills
Advisor to the Board & Interim Chief Executive