Let me start tonight with the world around us, because it has changed and it continues to change fast. Across the globe, the rules and norms that underpin stability and prosperity for decades are being overturned. One key reason is that the balance of power in the world is shifting. The US remains the world's leading power, but China has risen rapidly and is now a peer competitor with deep capabilities in many areas. Neither can overpower the other, and yet neither can walk away from the other. So they are learning how to live with a new reality, competing fiercely while trying to avoid confrontation and outright conflict.
But the world is not shaped by America and China alone. Europe remains a major force. India is rising rapidly. Many middle powers are asserting their interests more actively. So power is becoming dispersed. Different centers are jostling for influence, competing for markets, technology, resources, and increasingly over who sets the rules of the game.
We see this clearly in the global trading system. For decades, countries lowered their barriers and opened up their economies. Tariffs came down. Supply chains stretched across borders. All this was underpinned by a common framework of rules through the WTO and other global institutions. Companies assumed that if one supplier failed, another would easily step in. That was the world we knew. Now all that is changing.
COVID was a wake-up call. Suppliers we could count on before stopped delivering. Suddenly, everyone was scrambling for masks, medical supplies, and vaccines. And as you would recall, even basic items like toilet paper. Russia's invasion of Ukraine exposed another vulnerability: the danger of depending too heavily on a single supplier. Europe felt this most acutely when Russia cut off gas supplies. Now we are dealing with a major crisis in the Middle East. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted. This has exposed vulnerabilities in energy, food, and other critical supplies.
Countries have learned from these crises. Security now weighs much more heavily in their economic decisions. Governments are increasingly using trade, technology, and investment to advance their strategic and security objectives. Look at what has happened with tariffs. Last year, the US imposed its Liberation Day tariffs. Their courts later ruled these to be unlawful, but the US administration found another way to reimpose tariffs, this time over the alleged use of forced labor. Now, we all agree there should be no place for forced labor. This is a global problem. The better way to tackle it is through international cooperation and common standards, not tariffs. But the US now expects countries to have domestic measures to stop imported goods made with forced labor.
More recently, the US has also raised concerns about Chinese goods being routed through other countries, especially in Southeast Asia, to circumvent its tariffs. Here too, the principle is clear. There are established rules of origin for international trade. You cannot just route goods through another country to disguise where they actually come from. Singapore takes both issues seriously. We have clear rules and laws in place. We enforce them, and we expect companies operating here to comply. We will not allow Singapore to be used as a conduit for illegal trade practices. If there is credible evidence of wrongdoing, we will investigate and we will take action.
But we must also be realistic about what Singapore can do on our own. We are a major center for re-exports and transshipment. Goods pass through Singapore from all over the world. We cannot possibly trace and verify the entire supply chain behind every product that passes through our shores. So we will continue engaging the US and explaining our position. But we should recognize the larger reality. Trade is no longer as free as it once was. Trade is no longer about economics alone. It is increasingly shaped by security considerations. And we should expect more of such changes to come.
Tariffs are only one symptom. They reflect deeper tensions around the world. Great power competition is intensifying. There are major conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. They may seem far away and separate from us, but the conflicts do not always stay neatly contained. Other powers can get drawn in because of their alliances, their interests, or simply because events force their hands. New technologies add to the risk. Cheap drones can now inflict serious damage even against much more powerful forces. So put all this together, and the risk of miscalculation and escalation is much higher. A regional conflict can quickly become something bigger. One side takes an action, the other side responds. Each thinks it is acting defensively, but step by step, the conflict can widen far beyond what anyone originally intended.
No one wants another world war. But history reminds us major wars rarely begin because they were planned. They happen because events spiral out of control. We all hope never to see a global conflict in our lifetimes. But we cannot ignore the growing risk. We are also seeing more pressure below the threshold of open war: economic coercion, foreign interference, disinformation campaigns, and cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. People call these gray zone tactics. You may not see troops crossing borders, but the damage can be just as real.
So this is our world today: more contested, more unstable, and more dangerous than before. And these are not temporary disruptions. This is the new normal that Singapore will have to endure and survive for many years to come. Our response cannot be to retreat and turn inward. We have succeeded by connecting to and creating value for the world. We play a vital role in global supply chains. We are a major hub for business and finance. We bring together markets, capital, talent, and ideas. All of these strengths depend on one thing: trust. Countries trust us. Businesses trust us. Investors trust us. They know Singapore is a place where the rule of law prevails, institutions are strong, and contracts and commitments are honored. When Singapore gives our word, we keep it. And in a world where trust is becoming harder to find, this remains one of our greatest strengths.
So we will build on this trust and deepen our links with the world. As countries pull apart, we will build more connections, not fewer. We will reach out to more partners, make ourselves even more relevant, and create more opportunities for Singaporeans. Next year, Singapore will take on the chairmanship of ASEAN. We will do everything we can to strengthen ASEAN centrality and unity, deepen regional integration, and make ASEAN a more effective single market. We will also strengthen partnerships beyond our region, bring diverse partners together, build common ground, and keep channels for dialogue and cooperation open.
Even as we work with others, we cannot assume that they will come to our rescue when troubles come. Ultimately, we must be able to stand on our own and take care of our own. So when the Middle East crisis broke out, we moved quickly. We brought stranded Singaporeans back home. We acted to secure essential supplies. And we've rolled out two support packages for workers, households, and businesses. Our immediate priority has been to steady the ship and help Singaporeans through this period of turbulence. But we must go beyond that and prepare for the deeper changes to come. So tonight I want to share how we will do this. We will harness the power of new technology, but do so on our own terms. We will give families greater support and confidence for the future. We will stay open and connected while keeping our society cohesive and united. And we will keep planning and building for the long term. These are not separate agendas. They are all part of one larger mission to keep Singapore trusted, relevant, and resilient, ready for whatever lies ahead.
Staying relevant means adapting to change. Singapore has done this through every major technological shift. We did so during industrialization, then with computers and the internet. Each time we mastered new technologies, attracted leading companies here, built up our own capabilities, and equipped Singaporeans with new skills. And that's how we've created better jobs and new opportunities for our people. Today we are in the midst of another technological revolution. Last year I spoke about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence. In just one year the technology has moved even faster than many expected. We started with AI that could answer questions. Now we have AI agents that can carry out tasks on our behalf. And the technology can make a big difference, especially for small businesses. AI can give them capabilities that were once available only to much larger firms.
Take entrepreneur Gazelle Wound. She started Magic Painters as a face painting service for children. Over time, she grew it into an events company for families. It's still a small operation run mainly by Gazelle together with her husband, but now they can use AI agents to take care of the routine work, from marketing to operations. And that gives them more time to focus on growing the business, and importantly, to spend with their daughter.
So that's the power of AI. It can enable SMEs to think bigger, move faster, and achieve more with fewer resources. Technology can also improve our lives in direct ways. Take healthcare. Many of us know we should exercise more, but we don't always know where to start or how to keep it up. So through Healthier SG, we are using AI to create personalized exercise plans for Singaporeans. Steven Chan is one of those benefiting. He is nearing 50 and feels that age is starting to catch up with him. So he worked with his GP to set his health goals. The AI tool suggested specific exercises and built him a customized routine. Now Steven is getting fitter, and soon he will be able to keep up with his son. Keep it up, Steven.
AI is also helping us detect diseases more accurately. One application is breast cancer screening. Reading a mammogram is not always straightforward. Dense tissue and tumors can look similar. They both show up as white, as you can see on the screen. So it's difficult to spot a tumor. But missing something like this can have life-changing consequences. And this is where AI can help. It can act as another pair of highly trained eyes for our radiologists. This reduces their workload and can help them detect cancers faster and more accurately. We are also making good progress in genomics. Our genome is like a biological blueprint. It contains information that shapes many of our characteristics, including our risk of developing certain diseases. Twenty years ago, it would cost tens of millions to sequence a person's genome. Today, it can be done for just a few hundred dollars. This can transform how we prevent and treat disease. Genetic testing can help doctors identify patients with a higher inherited risk of certain diseases, including cancers and high cholesterol. And if we know this risk earlier, we can act earlier, and in some cases we may even prevent serious disease altogether. Oni Kong tells me MOH has already started several pilot projects, and we plan to do more in the years ahead.
These are exciting advances, and we want to make full use of them. But technological change can also affect jobs and livelihoods. We've seen this before. More than 10 years ago, ride-hailing apps came to Singapore. Some cities tried to keep out these apps. We took a different approach. We welcomed the innovation. At the same time, we put in place rules to ensure fair competition and support drivers through the transition. Very quickly the taxi industry adapted, and today commuters enjoy greater convenience while drivers have more flexibility and new ways to earn a living. So that experience gives us confidence as we move into another transformation: autonomous vehicles, or AVs. We are now trialing AVs in Punggol. The response has been very encouraging. Let me show you a video.
