The Singapore Senior Minister called for concrete, collaborative ventures on issues of global concern, such as climate change, vaccine development, or access to education.
«The really big challenges are staring at us in the face,» Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Wednesday at the Bloomberg New Economy forum.
«But if COVID has had a benefit, it is that it has illustrated that collaboration internationally is far less costly than not collaborating, and preparing in advance for pandemics and other crises are going to be far less costly than not preparing,» Shanmugaratnam, said on the panel «Two-Speed Global Recovery: The Dangers of a Widening Rich-Poor Gap.»
He also highlighted the lack of trust in institutions, governments and multilateralism on all issues that have to do with the common good. «We have to be concerned about that. It has to be addressed through narratives and not just saying the right things,» the minister, who is also chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore's central bank and financial regulator, said.
Financial Inclusion
The panelists agreed that fintech, including blockchain and crypto, presents many opportunities to address financial inclusion. «I think the pandemic exposed many trends that have been going on for a long time,» PayPal CEO Dan Schulman added, noting that 1.7 billion people worldwide still have no access to financial services, with about double that figure being underserved.
«No company is an island to itself. The business world is slowly but surely recognising that we have multiple stakeholders: our communities, employees, governments, regulators, and customers. We need to think about our purpose as a company and have profit and purpose work together. We can't just be about making money. We need to be about "What is the impact we can make in the world?" and look at larger things than just the company itself,» Schuman said.
