S’pore PM: SE Asia faces threats from IS, cyberattacks

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia faces “very real” threats from the Islamic State group despite their defeat in the Middle East, as well as cyberattacks, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned yesterday as he opened a regional summit.

Lee warned that IS continued to threaten the region despite their military defeat in Iraq and Syria, while the move towards digitalisation has made countries more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

“Southeast Asia is at peace, but these threats are very real,” he said.

“We need to be resilient to both conventional threats, and also non-conventional threats such as terrorism and cyberattacks.”

The leaders, at a working dinner on Friday ahead of their formal summit, agreed to increase coordination in cybersecurity.

Lee also warned that the open global trading system, which had allowed many of the region’s export-driven economies to flourish, had come under increasing threat due to protectionist policies in major economies.

“The political mood in many countries has shifted against free trade. In particular, the trade tensions between the United States and China are worrying concerns.”

Washington and Beijing have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods which analysts said could escalate into a global trade war and scupper global growth.

Lee said the answer to such rising protectionism was for Asean to push for deeper integration of their economies and bolster cooperation in other fields.