Singapore, Italy Finalise Supply Chain Resiliency Agreement

SINGAPORE and Italy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Supply Chain Resiliency on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue.

The agreement was signed by the Singapore defence ministry’s permanent secretary (Defence Development) Melvyn Ong, and Italy’s National Armaments Director Vice Admiral Giacinto Ottaviani, the arrangement strengthens the defence supply chains of both nations to deal with unforeseen disruptions. The signing was witnessed by the city-state’s defence minister Chan Chun Sing and his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto.

In a related development, Crosetto also met with Malaysian defence minister Khaled Nordin at the event, discussing efforts in furthering defence ties between the two countries, including several partnership instruments in the works, including government-to-government (G2G) defence procurement, development of the defence industry and capacity building.

According to the minister, Italy regards Malaysia as a vital strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, with Crosetto emphasising Italy’s view of Malaysia as “not merely as a customer, but as a partner”, which would entail technology transfers, offset agreements and the development of Malaysia’s domestic defence industry capacity.

“We look to countries that can really transfer their technology to us, countries that are willing to not only make us their customers but look to us as partners, in the sense that they are willing to support our policy. One of our new policies is to be able to be self-reliant to support our local defence industry,” Khaled said.

He added that Malaysia had benefitted from transfers of technology from friendly countries such as Turkey, South Korea, and some others that want to see Malaysia become a strong nation in this region, which includes Australia.–-shp/adj/dl (Pix:SG/MY MINDEF)