Transcript of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s Opening Remarks at Fireside Chat at the Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. on 7 June 2025

Minister: I come from a tiny city state called Singapore in the heart of Southeast Asia, 700 square kilometers in size. We have no natural resources. We are wedged between the Straits of Malacca and the Sunda Strait. We are at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. Our survival has depended on an open and rules-based international order. So we have always believed that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific has been the foundation of our prosperity and our security. And I think the region is at an inflection point, and it is not clear which way things will go.