Global Business Briefing and Reception with His Excellency Lui Tuck Yew, Ambassador of Singapore to the U.S.

On July 12, 2023, the Meridian Corporate Council hosted a Global Business Briefing with H.E. Lui Tuck Yew. The discussion, moderated by Pierce Scranton, Deputy Head - North America and Managing Director – Institutional Relations, Temasek, covered key areas of economic and defense relations between the U.S. and Singapore, as well as the important role that Singapore can play in helping with investments in the Global South.   

 Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew was Singapore’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from November 2019 to April 2023. Prior to this, he was Singapore’s Ambassador to Japan from June 2017 to October 2019. Ambassador Lui was the Minister for Transport from 2011 to 2015 and concurrently Second Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012 and Second Minister for Defense in 2015. Ambassador Lui was Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts from 2009 to 2011. Ambassador Lui was first elected as Member of Parliament in 2006 and served as a Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts until 2009.  Ambassador Lui graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University of Cambridge, Trinity College United Kingdom in 1983. He subsequently obtained a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from Tufts University, USA in 1994.  

Although a small country in the region, Singapore is home to a diversified economy which attracts significant foreign investment, including from the U.S. private sector. Singapore is the U.S.’s 17th largest trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two nations reaching $57.8 billion in 2020. With more than 4,500 American companies registered in Singapore, including technology, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industry giants, U.S. multinationals employ more than 200,000 Singaporeans. One of Singapore’s primary foreign policy objectives is to leverage its economic significance and strategic location to provide input for the interests of smaller countries in international institutions and advocate for them to take on a more active role in these settings. Furthermore, by helping developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, as well as offering training programs in partnership with the U.S., Singapore can play a significant role in the U.S.’s objectives to meaningfully increase its engagement in the Global South.