Singapore will share its growth experience with Commonwealth: PM Lee
Singapore has benefited from being part of the Commonwealth and will pay it forward by sharing its developmental experiences with fellow countries in the grouping, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
He made the pledge ahead of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting (CHOGM), which he will attend this week in London.
Writing in the CHOGM 2018 Report, Mr Lee said Singapore faced grave social and economic problems when it joined the Commonwealth in October 1965.
The regional situation was also unstable, with the Vietnam War brewing and South-east Asian countries at odds with one another.
"The odds were against our survival, but we pulled through. We were deeply grateful to the friends who came to our help in times of need, many of whom were in the Commonwealth," Mr Lee wrote.
Singapore is glad it can now help others in the Commonwealth through technical assistance programmes, he added.
Mr Lee will be among the leaders of 53 member nations gathering for the CHOGM Summit. The meetings run from Thursday to Friday.
In his article, Mr Lee noted the similarities between CHOGM and Asean, which Singapore chairs this year.
Singapore is working with fellow Asean members and partners on initiatives to strengthen resilience against such threats as terrorism, cybercrime and climate change, and to help Asean economies innovate and use technology, he said.
These aspirations dovetail with this year's CHOGM themes of security, prosperity, fairness and sustainability, he noted.
He added that, among other things, both groupings uphold an open, rules-based multilateral system that allows every country to prosper.
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