Trust Builder

Innovation Trust Builder Rich Karlgaard Forbes Staff I celebrate innovation and growth. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 13, 2022, 10:48pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! This story appears in the October 2022 issue of Forbes Asia.

Subscribe to Forbes Asia Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Singapore’s deputy prime minister, Lawrence Wong (left) and Rich Karlgaard. Forbes Asia The Forbes Global CEO Conference in September featured some 450 attendees, about $500 billion of personal wealth, and billions more in “dry powder” private equity and venture capital. Bold visions were outlined for India, Indonesia and Singapore.

A spirit of gratitude prevailed as old friendships were renewed with real handshakes, not virtual fist bumps. One happy attendee was heard to say, “I’ll never complain about jet lag again. ” But first, the elephants in the room—two very big ones.

Deglobalization and worsening U. S. –China relations topped the list of attendee worries.

The pandemic may be fading into a sort of seasonal flu, but globalization has failed to rebound as hoped. Rather, as noted by many speakers, it is giving way to mob sentiment on the political right (which dislikes foreign trade and people) and political left (which hates capitalism and fossil fuels). Angry populism has popped its cork worldwide.

It now spreads its poison to democracies and autocracies alike. “Geopolitics will drive more economics, trade and investment decisions,” Singapore’s deputy prime minister and minister for finance, Lawrence Wong, told the audience. “Unfortunately, relations are worsening….

The countries are divided on many issues, ranging from different rival ideologies to systems of government. And now, more recently, sharply escalating tensions over Taiwan. ” The deputy prime minister said that while leaders of both the U.

S. and China want to avoid direct confrontation, grave miscalculations were possible. “The U.

S. -China relationship is the most consequential relationship in the world, and it shapes the tone of global affairs,” he said. “There will be an ability to establish a new modus vivendi between the two countries, recognizing that the world is big enough for China and the U.

S. to coexist, and the two countries do not have to define their relationship in adversarial terms. He later added, “That is why we tell our friends in both America and China to engage the region more constructively and comprehensively, and engage the region on its own merits, not through the prism of a U.

S. -China relationship or U. S.

-China competition,” the deputy prime minister said. Singapore, he said, has been “encouraging both sides to keep open lines of communication, especially and including at the highest levels. ” MORE FOR YOU Hiring Refugees: How One Big Factory Did It Editor’s Sidelines, October 2022: The New Abnormal Intel’s Push For UCIe Will Enable Lower System Costs Looking ahead, Wong said: “We believe that here in Singapore, this little island that we are, we can continue to be a bastion for stability, opportunities, and innovation.

We can continue to be a reliable and trusted node in the global order. And we can only do that by bringing people together by having strong partnerships and by being a place where the human spirit continues to thrive, despite the adversity that happens around us. ” The word trust came up many times during my conversation with the deputy prime minister.

I asked him how he would define Singapore’s brand in the world. Tying together Singapore’s affluence, capital access and entrepreneurial energy, might thrive be Singapore’s brand, I suggested. Wong smiled.

“I have another one that starts with ‘T’ and that is trust. ” The deputy prime minister is right. Trust in trade agreements.

Trust in global diplomacy. Trust in financial systems. Trust has ascendant value in global affairs.

As for his own transition as the presumptive prime minister, he commented: “The prime minister has said that he would like it to be sooner…. But I have also said that we will do it at a time when we are ready and when I am ready for it, and when I am confident that the team is ready for it. ” In my next column, I will summarize why one of the world’s richest men, India’s Gautam Adani , thinks India will catch up and surpass the U.

S. and China in GDP. Till then, go practice real handshakes, not virtual fist bumps.

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