There is Potential For Greater Economic Cooperation Between Southeast Asia and The Middle East

COVID-19 devastated the world in 2020.

By extension, the economy was also badly affected.

However, Singapore has been steady on it’s road to recovery, with income gaps reportedly hitting an all-time low.

With other countries slowly getting back on their feet, what better way to accelerate that than to work together.

There is Potential For Greater Economic Cooperation Between Southeast Asia and The Middle East

As the saying goes: if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Starting yesterday on 23 Feb, the Middle East Institute Annual Conference is set to last till 25 Feb.

It features panel discussions with experts and policymakers on trade, technology and education.

2021s theme aims to discuss opportunities and challenges between the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East

For the first day, the key speaker was Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng.

In it, he mentions a piece of positive news, that South East Asia’s economy as a whole was expected to recover by this year.

As such, he hopes this could be an opportunity to engage with the Middle East for more economic cooperation.

An example given was that Singaporean companies could find opportunities in F&B in the Middle East.

Dr Tan even says around 30 companies have done this and hopes more will follow.

He feels joining forces could unlock a lot of economic potentials.

SG Ideal For Middle-East Companies To Access SEA

Dr Tan also says that bilateral trade between Singapore and Middle Eastern countries has grown exponentially.

And by that, we mean reaching roughly S$57.5 billion in the last five years.

He cites low oil and gas prices along with the global economic slowdown from COVID-19 that accelerated their diversification, creating opportunities in areas like e-commerce, health, and finance.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership also saw new opportunities for mutual trade and investment.

It basically helps and builds upon Australia’s existing free trade agreements with 14 other Indo-Pacific countries.

The Middle East, amongst other countries, showed great interest to join in.

Dr Tan also said South-East Asia was projected to be the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030.

This along with expected overall GDP growth to rebound to 5.6 per cent in 2021 were given as reasons why the Middle-East should take note of the region.

Ways To Improve

While all seems like the perfect scenario, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean also noted a particular area that could be improved.

Specifically, people-to-people interactions.

He said that as the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East grow, both should share their experiences and trade information.

“And with that increased self-confidence and the ability to discern for ourselves what kinds of relationships or development models we want, I think there would be greater opportunity for people-to-people relationships.”

Mr Teo also believes that togetherness will help maintain peace and stability among the regions.

He feels that being divided would allow problems and differences to fester, creating an even bigger division.

Think of it this way: the more you understand your friends, the better you interact with them.

The same can apply here, only on an extremely monumental scale.