Key Takeaways from the Inaugural US-Singapore CET Dialogue

On the occasion of Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s visit to Washington, D.C., the United States and Singapore launched the U.S.-Singapore Critical and Emerging Technology (CET) Dialogue.  National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Acting Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology Seth Center (on behalf of Secretary of State Antony Blinken), Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, and Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-Charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity Josephine Teo led the inaugural U.S. Singapore CET Dialogue, with opening remarks by Deputy Prime Minister Wong.

They were joined on the U.S. side by the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, the Deputy Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, and senior officials from the U.S. Department of State, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, United States Trade Representative, Department of Defense, and National Security Council.  On the Singaporean side, Minister of State for Trade & Industry Alvin Tan, senior officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information, Ministry for Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chairman of the Economic Development Board and the Chief Executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority participated.

The two sides discussed opportunities to bolster research, innovation, and commercial ties to expand the frontiers of scientific knowledge, promote prosperity, and deliver public goods to the Indo-Pacific region, especially ASEAN partners.  The United States and Singapore also discussed economic security and technology protection measures to manage risks to national security while abiding by our long-standing commitment to open investment.  The high-level discussions were followed by a dialogue with industry hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focused on AI innovation and safety and co-chaired by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves and Singapore Minister of Communications and Information Teo.

To expand and deepen our technology partnership, the United States and Singapore committed to launch new bilateral initiatives and welcomed enhanced cooperation between our governments, industry, and academia across the following domains:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Welcomed the completion of a mapping exercise between the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework and the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority’s AI Verify
  

• Establishing a bilateral AI Governance Working Group focused on advancing shared principles for safe, trustworthy, and responsible AI innovation, to complement the United States’ Voluntary AI Commitments and a potential multilateral AI Code of Conduct.
  

• Expanding collaboration between the U.S. National Science Foundation and AI Singapore (AISG) through joint research and educational funding opportunities focused on trustworthy and safe AI systems.
  

• Exploring reciprocal certification programs for American and Singaporean AI professionals on the basis of shared standards, tests, and benchmarks.

  
  

Digital Economy

• Developing a Roadmap for Digital Economic Cooperation that charts common principles and objectives on priority issues such as data governance, digital standards, digital inclusion, consumer protection, and ensuring small- and medium-enterprises can benefit from opportunities in the digital economy.
  

• Exploring opportunities to strengthen bilateral collaboration on digital payments, including to shape international best practices.
  

• Collaborating to facilitate trusted data flows with effective privacy protections, including through work under the U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation (PGI) and through supporting the expansion of the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum.

  
  

Biotechnology

• Convening U.S. and Singapore universities, research institutions, private sector, and science agencies to advance shared research and development (R&D) priorities for biotechnology; talent exchanges; and sharing of best practices for startups around commercialization, scaling, and R&D translation efforts.
  

• Exploring opportunities for R&D collaboration in synthetic biology, cell and gene therapeutics, viral and viral delivery systems.

  
  

Climate and Resilient Critical Infrastructure

• Upgrading long-standing collaboration on smart cities, with a focus on climate resilience, under the auspices of the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership.
  

• Working to establish a Smart Cities Program on AI through the U.S.-Singapore Third Country Training Program to deliver capacity-building to ASEAN and Pacific Islands Forum states.
  

• Supporting regional efforts to decarbonize and deploy renewable energy, including through ongoing research efforts through the U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership.
  

• Collaborating on standards, rules, and norms for promoting the protection, maintenance, and streamlined processes for subsea cables, including at international platforms such as the International Cable Protection Committee.

  
  

Quantum Information Science and Technology

• Expanding government, academic, and private sector exchanges through the State Department International Visitor Leadership Program and other potential longer-term programs including between university partners.
  

• Deepening information-sharing on Post Quantum Cryptography migration between the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Homeland Security and Singapore’s National Quantum Office and Ministry of Communications and Information.

  
  

Defense Innovation

• Concluding a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit and the Singapore Ministry of Defence to more deeply integrate our bilateral defense innovation ecosystems, in support of stability and security in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

  
  

The United States and Singapore look forward to institutionalizing the CET Dialogue as a mechanism to accelerate collaboration—both bilaterally and with like-minded partners—and pursue ambitious objectives for our technology partnership in service of our shared vision for a secure, peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.