Singapore’s defence chief urges against protectionism, ‘nativist instincts’

Corporate leaders should reject rising protectionism and nativist instincts by taking an active role in shaping global integration, Singapore’s Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Wednesday, as top figures at the Milken Institute Asia Summit warned of risks from technological disruption, geopolitical fragmentation and zero-sum thinking.

Opening the summit in Singapore, Chan said business leaders should not be bystanders in times of upheaval but instead help steer political discourse and economic policy in their home countries.

“You will have the responsibility, you will also have the agency to try to counterbalance the worst of the nativist instincts that come from the uncertainties that our people are facing,” he told a packed room of executives and policymakers.

The annual summit, which runs until Friday, involves more than 1,500 top-level participants, including CEOs, government officials, investors and entrepreneurs.

Chan’s remarks set the tone for the three-day gathering, where other speakers on the first day – including Sea Group founder Forrest Li and veteran diplomat Bilahari Kausikan – echoed the call for collaboration in an increasingly fractured world.

Singapore’s defence minister warned that if companies simply sought to maximise their own short-term gains amid geopolitical fragmentation, the broader economic system would suffer.