The Singapore Conference @ CSIS

The CSIS Southeast Asia program was pleased to host The Singapore Conference @ CSIS on February 8, 2012, featuring a select and high level group of experts and senior policy officials at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The conference brought together several ministers from Singapore’s new cabinet and other Singaporean and U.S. officials, thought leaders, business executives, and journalists to discuss a range of issues from the political changes taking place in Singapore to cooperation between our countries on regional and global priorities. The Singapore Conference @ CSIS focused on five key themes:

1. Assessing Singapore’s politics and foreign policy
2. Strengthening trade partnerships and constructing a framework for growth in the Asia-Pacific
3. Bolstering security cooperation in Asia
4. Educational partnerships and preparing students for the 21st Century economy
5. Defining a strategic cooperation for the 21st century

The conference was organized at a vital moment for both the United States and Singapore. The center of gravity for American foreign policy, national security, and economic interests are being realigned and shifting towards Asia. The United States is thinking more strategically about the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia in particular. Singapore has been a vital partner of the United States with extensive linkages from trade and investment, sustainable environmental policy, to security and political ties. American officials, business leaders, and civil society leaders, and the new Singaporean leadership value the opportunity to discuss these issues, and the conference was designed to meet that need. We would like to thank everyone who joined us for providing insights and input to enrich this important and timely discussion.

Please note that all of the keynote speeches were on the record, and transcripts and videos are available. However, the panel discussions that followed adhered to Chatham House Rules.

Agenda

FEBRUARY 8, 2012 – CONFERENCE

0830 Registration of Participants 0900 Welcoming Remarks

Ernest Bower
Senior Adviser & Director for Southeast Asia, CSIS

Her Excellency Chan Heng Chee
Ambassador, Embassy of Singapore

0910 New Directions: Singapore Politics and Foreign Policy

Moderator:
Ernest Bower Senior
Adviser & Director for Southeast Asia

0910 Keynote Speech and Q&A

His Excellency K. Shanmugam
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

0950 Panel Discussion and Q&A

Speakers:
His Excellency Ashok Mirpuri
Singapore Ambassador to Indonesia

The Hon. J. Stapleton Roy
Former US Ambassador to Singapore & Director of Kissinger Institute for Chinese-U.S. studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center

Janadas Devan
Director of Institute of Policy Studies

Stanley Roth
Vice-President, International Government Relations, Boeing

1100 Strengthening the Trade Partnership: Recovery through Growth in the Asia-Pacific

Moderator:
The Hon. Carla Hills
CEO, Hills and Co

1100 Introductory Comments and Q&A

The Hon. S. Iswaran
2nd Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore

1140 Panel Discussion and Q&A

Speakers:
The Hon. Charlene Barshefsky
Chair, International Trade, Investment and Market Access Practice, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Ng How Yue
Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore

Barbara Weisel
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Southeast Asia, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Ong Ye Kung
Deputy Secretary-General, National Trade Union Congress, Singapore

Karan Bhatia
Vice President and Senior Counsel, International Law and Policy, General Electric

Jeffrey J. Schott
Senior Fellow, Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics

1245 Luncheon: Building Security Partnerships in Asia

Moderator:
Michael Green
Japan Chair & Senior Adviser, CSIS and Associate Professor, Georgetown University

1300 Keynote Speech and Q&A:

Chee Wee Kiong
Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

1335 Panel Discussion and Q&A

Speakers:
The Hon. Richard Armitage
Former Deputy Secretary of State

Major-General (NS) Ng Chee Khern
Director of the Security and Intelligence Division (SID), Singapore

Admiral Dennis Blair
Former Director of National Intelligence and former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Command

Brigadier General Gary Ang
Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Defence, Singapore

Ambassador Barry Desker
Dean of S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

1430 Education, Competitiveness, and Growth

Moderator:
The Hon. David Adelman
U.S. Ambassador to Singapore

1430 Introductory Comments and Q&A

His Excellency Heng Swee Keat
Minister for Education, Singapore

1510 Panel Discussion and Q&A

Speakers:
Joanne Weiss
Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary, United States Department of Education

Linda Darling-Hammond
Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University

Tan Ching Yee
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Singapore

Jessica Kehayes
Director of Education and Chief of Staff, Education Department, Asia Society

1615 Defining a 21st Century Strategic Partnership

Moderator:
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

Peter Ho
Senior Advisor, Centre for Strategic Futures & Senior Fellow, Civil Service College

The Hon. Kurt M. Campbell
Assistant Secretary for East Asian & Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Discussion and Q & A

1730 Closing Remarks and Reception 1830 Adjourn

CSIS would like to recognize and thank the following sponsors of

The Singapore Conference @ CSIS :

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