Forum: New Cabinet needs to look for multiple ways forward to ensure Singapore’s economic resilience

I refer to the article “America’s great economic waterfall is drying up” (May 22), which raised several points about how Singapore can pivot in order to seize opportunities arising from the ongoing reset in global economic relationships.

While Singapore may have certain value propositions in our trade negotiations with the US, we must remain realistic. Other countries may have similar or even better offers as they try to secure their own trade deals. This was evident during US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East.

With reciprocal trade tariffs and policies in flux, Singapore can’t expect its existing advantages to hold. The new Cabinet will need to look for multiple ways forward to navigate through headwinds and ensure Singapore’s economic resilience.

To quote former defence minister Ng Eng Hen, “we take the world as it is – not as we wish it to be, no matter how much we wish it to be”.

Ivan Phang