Singapore’s prospects did not look good when it became an independent state in 1965: With no natural resources and a multi-religious and multi-racial population with little shared history, the country started a journey which has brought it “From Third World to First”, the title to one volume of the memoirs of its first prime minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. This rise would not have been possible without collaboration, be it between the different ethnic groups within Singapore or between Singapore and its many regional allies and around the world. Therefore, Singapore is an excellent case study of what collaboration on different levels can look like and result in. The 6^th St. Gallen Symposium Singapore Forum addressed this ability and discussed the topic of the upcoming St. Gallen Symposium – Collaborative Advantage – from various perspectives.

On Tuesday, 25 January 2022, a group of former visitors to the St. Gallen Symposium, members of the St. Gallen Symposium’s Singapore community and students from various universities were invited to NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House. Enabled by the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA) Council of Singapore, the National University of Singapore and the Swiss Embassy the St. Gallen Symposium was able to hold the St. Gallen Symposium Singapore Forum, one of the first physical events within its year-round initiative.

Starting with a keynote speech by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment the audience got an overview of Singapore’s efforts to become more sustainable and the important role of collaboration within it. In particular, Minister Fu described how grants funded by a carbon tax will help to decarbonise companies and how Singapore partners with companies and researchers to leverage emerging low-carbon technologies.

In the following panel discussion, the topic “Collaborative Advantage” was discussed from a broader perspective. With Ms Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director of Singapore’s Economic Development Board, Mr Wong Kee Joo, chief executive officer of HSBC Singapore and Mr Warren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of SPH Media Trust’s English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, representatives from the public sector, the private sector and the media were present, allowing the panel to explore collaborations within as well as between these domains. By providing multiple examples where their organisations collaborate, the panel was able to again underline the importance of working together to create economic and social value and left the audience with inspiration to collaborate on their own.