Congratulatory Speech by Mr Edwin Tong SC, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law at the Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Cooperation in Tokyo, Japan

29 JUL 2021

29 July 2021 Posted in [Speeches]

Your Excellency,

Minister of Justice of Japan,

Ms Kamikawa Yoko

  1. Thank you very much for the welcome to myself and to my delegation.
  1. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am very honoured to be here this afternoon, to be signing the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in person, in Tokyo today.
  1. As Minister mentioned earlier, this is something that I had raised, when I met with your State Minister of Justice Mr Hiroshi Hiraguchi in March 2019, and I am glad that today we are able to see its conclusion.

Singapore-Japan Bilateral Relations

  1. Singapore and Japan enjoy a longstanding and a close relationship. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations.
  1. Our two countries have deepened and broadened our relationship and cooperation over the years, ranging from defence, environment, biomedical research to cybersecurity; and now, also supply chain connectivity, vaccine multilateralism, and of course, the resumption of business travel.

MOC

  1. It is therefore momentous to be able to extend and expand the scope of our already wide-ranging cooperation on this 55th anniversary.
  1. This MOC will institutionalise our cooperation in international commercial dispute resolution, and also in the people-to-people exchange in the legal sector.
  1. These areas are very important to both our countries. We both embrace free trade as a source of economic growth, and a multilateral rules-based trading system.
  1. Legal and dispute resolution services are means to support what we believe in.
  1. In cross-border trade and investments, what businesses need is confidence that their investments will be protected after they have decided to do business in the country.
  1. Given our two countries’ strong economic links, it is imperative for us to work more closely together to protect and enhance dispute resolution services.
  1. I am also very happy that we are starting from a very strong base:

a. We have regular exchanges between our governments.

b. Our arbitration and mediation institutions have already been working closely together.

c. Our lawyers and in-house counsel have also come together, to share experiences at a very high-level legal conference organised by MinLaw and Japan Association of Arbitrators in Tokyo in March 2019. Then Vice Minister of Justice Hiroyuki Tsuji delivered the opening address.

Conclusion

  1. I am very confident that the Memorandum of Cooperation that we will be signing shortly will enhance our business support and also grow the economic ties between our two countries.
  1. Thank you very much, Minister, and congratulations on the signing of the MOC!
  1. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Last updated on 29 July 2021