SG, US to forge stronger supply chain partnership

"Supply chain resilience comes from diversity, connectivity, and trust," said Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.

Singapore and the US can be natural partners in supply chain resilience, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said in a roundtable meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris held on 24 August.

“Singapore can be a natural partner for the US and its companies to strengthen supply chain  resilience and deepen regional engagement. Trust, diversity, and connectivity are strong reasons why the US and Singapore can continue to work on joint approaches to address common supply chain challenges,” Gan said.

The US is amongst the Lion City’s largest foreign investors, facilitated by the US-Singapore free trade agreement. Gan said that the two nations can strengthen their existing collaborations such as the Partnership for Growth and Innovation with the US Department of Commerce, and the US-Singapore Climate Partnership.

“The potential of our G2G agreements will be realised through the hard work of our business communities, enabled by our excellent trade associations such as AmCham and the US-ASEAN Business Council,” he added.

For her part, Harris said COVID-19 and climate change has led to demand greatly outpacing the supply of goods.

“Families are feeling the impact of this, be it the rising cost of shipping or congestion at ports, or just the reduced production... if you want to have Christmas toys for your children, now might be the time to start buying them, because the delay may be many, many months,” Harris said.

She added that collaboration and coordination is needed to meet supply chain demands.