St Gallen Symposium holds first hub meeting in Singapore

SINGAPORE figured prominently in the 50th anniversary event - a significant milestone - of Switzerland's prestigious student-organised St Gallen Symposium (SGS). The annual event's first ever in-person hub event in Singapore was organised in May, in which 50 people participated over two days each in an intergenerational dialogue on "Trust Matters".

The SGS, held every year in the city of St Gallen in Switzerland in May, is special in that it is organised by a carefully selected new team of students each year on a topic of great current interest to youth around the world. The students are supervised and guided by the St Gallen Foundation for International Studies.

The foundation is chaired by top Swiss businessman Peter Voser, who is chairman of the board of directors of ABB. He is also a member of the board of Temasek and group chairman of the board of directors of its subsidiary PSA International.

Singapore figured highly in the planning of the 50th anniversary symposium this year right from the start, as the Republic and the SGS have built a very strong relationship over the past 20 years.

More than 250 Singapore students have had the privilege of participating in the SGS in St Gallen over the years, with all their expenses paid for by the organisers. What helped in Singapore being chosen for the hub event this year was that at the time, it was one of the few countries that allowed events with up to 50 people in attendance.

"With almost the whole world in lockdown, the St Gallen Symposium had to find new ways to drive cross-generational dialogue. Singapore was an extraordinary part of this solution. Being the only global hub with participants and discussions on-site, it brought the symposium vibe to virtual participants all over the world," one of the key student organisers, Fabian Karst, tells The Business Times (BT) in an interview.

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"Furthermore, this setup enabled speakers, like Singapore ministers Ong Ye Kung and Alvin Tan, to join the symposium's plenary sessions, allowing them to bring Singapore's unique perspective to the discussions. This inspired leaders of today and tomorrow likewise and led to much positive feedback from our Singaporean participants."

A NEW CHAPTER

Mr Karst says that this is the beginning of a new chapter in the SGS's growing relationship with Singapore.

With a refined vision after its 50th anniversary event, the SGS will strive to strengthen its international presence and foster a year-round dialogue. Mr Karst will be the symposium's new permanent representative for Asia based in Singapore, while doing his PhD enabled by Leica Geosystems and the St Gallen Institute of Management in Asia, which is located in Amoy Street in Singapore.

"It will be my mission to further strengthen our personal and institutional partnerships in Singapore and Asean as today's international dialogue must include Asia. With my area of research being in the application of natural language processing, I could not imagine a better place to be in. This technology has huge potential for accelerating discussions, and Singapore's culture of innovation and openness towards technology, combined with the symposium's global network, will inspire me along my way," says Mr Karst, who will be based in Singapore from September.

This year's SGS Singapore Hub was a unique event in that it gave Singaporean attendees the opportunity to meet in person, while participating in the 50th SGS through local, hybrid and purely digital sessions, adds Mr Karst, who visited Singapore ahead of the hub event as part of the small student organising team.

"The small team of student organisers found supporters and partners both in the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as well as the Economic Development Board (EDB). Particularly, the STB was of strategic importance as they are the regulator for the safety management rules for such events. And of course, the Swiss embassy headed by Ambassador Fabrice Filliez rendered their diplomatic support wherever needed," says Alexander Melchers, an adviser to the SGS Foundation for over 20 years, who was the coordinator on the ground in Singapore to help the students in their challenging task.

A businessman, he is the managing director of C Melchers, established in Singapore in 1952.

The SGS's first hub event in Singapore was held at the newly opened UBS University in Penang Road, in the Orchard area, with a strong programme live on stage which was then streamed globally. EDB chairman Beh Swan Gin was a member of the opening panel together with Mr Voser; Dominic Barton, Canada's ambassador to China; and Brian Griffiths, vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, who was former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's policy chief from 1985 to 1990.

Mr Melchers tells BT that Dr Beh's message was clear: Singapore is open for business, and the live applause from Singapore was well received by the global audience.

In the afternoon, there was an insight session with former minister George Yeo and PAP Member of Parliament Edward Chia on restoring ties of trust between Asia and Europe.

"Mr George Yeo was outstanding and well complemented by young leader Edward Chia. The session was moderated by Ms Xi Lin from Caixin Media," says Mr Melchers.

In the evening, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Alvin Tan, joined an international panel on "Future-Proofing the Economy". In the session moderated by Financial Times senior editor Martin Wolf, Mr Tan took the opportunity to make a strong statement about Singapore's openness and its role in a new globalised world. He did very well and impressed the audience in the room and around the globe, says Mr Melchers.

A highlight of the second day was a panel discussion on "Trust in Financial Services" with Edmund Koh, president of UBS Asia-Pacific; Loh Boon Chye, chief executive officer of the Singapore Exchange; and a young leader of tomorrow, Lisa Schroeder, participating in it.

"It was a very insightful discussion. The topics addressed not only impressed the audience in the room but also captivated the international audience on their screens. It was also a great example of the intergenerational dialogue so much promoted by the SGS," says Mr Melchers.

In the evening, the last highlight of the symposium with then minister for transport Ong Ye Kung on stage at an international session with Swiss Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter, head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police; Mr Barton, Canadian ambassador to China; and Christoph Heusgen, permanent representative of Germany at the United Nations.

Says Mr Melchers: "Mr Ong left a lasting impression on all viewers. Focusing on solutions and the way forward with an endemic Covid-19 and what Singapore does to remain open; while the others talked about the problems. It is noteworthy that Mr Ong, as well as Mr Tan, took a lot of time before and after their speeches to be with the participants in the St Gallen spirit."

STRONG ASSOCIATION

The preparations for the Singapore Hub events were also strongly supported by James Soh, executive director of the National Youth Achievement Award Council, which is a long-term alliance partner of SGS in Singapore, Mr Melchers adds.

He highlights that Singapore has a long history of strong association, with the annual SGS including its top leaders participating in it regularly. The first Singapore leader to be at the symposium was the then minister for education Teo Chee Hean in 2000.

"In 2003, and this was remarkable given today's situation, then minister Mah Bow Tan gave an important speech to share with the world (on) how Singapore managed the Sars situation back then; he had a standing ovation as Singapore's fast measures in fact helped to contain the deadly Sars virus globally," says Mr Melchers.

"And it was the start of building a long sequence of Singapore speakers who have included then president Tony Tan, then deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whose 'social trampoline' analogy was coined in St Gallen (with over one million views on YouTube!), the 4G leaders Lawrence Wong, Chan Chun Sing, Ong Ye Kung, and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, and many other very senior leaders of the Singapore government," he adds.