Intervention by Minister Josephine Teo at the High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Informal Meeting to Launch the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

Excellencies,

Colleagues and friends,

Singapore warmly welcomes the establishment of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. We are very glad that the dialogue is designed as a multi-stakeholder mechanism where the UN can leverage its strengths to pull together a diverse ecosystem of players for truly inclusive and forward-looking exchanges on AI.

This is all the more important given the inherently transboundary nature of AI and technology. We must crowd in diverse expertise to fully understand the risks and unlock the opportunities of AI for the Global Good.

Reflecting this ethos, Singapore's refreshed National AI Strategy was formulated with inputs from more than 300 experts. Likewise, our initiatives to uplift enterprises and the workforce, as well as our governance frameworks and testing toolkits, were similarly developed in partnership with both industry and the scientific community.

We believe that governance and innovation can reinforce one another when we have a robust, science-based approach to governance and clarity around guardrails. This sets out a foundation of trust. This will allow us to work together to advance the frontiers of technology and build AI for the common good.

Finally, there remains an urgent need to close the digital divide. I join colleagues in welcoming the UN Secretary General's report on innovative voluntary financing options for AI capacity building.

Singapore has also been contributing to digital capacity building through our programmes under the Digital Forum of Small States, and in partnership with organisations like the ITU and UNDP. In the next bound, we are launching a new initiative - the Singapore Digital Gateway - to make our frameworks, playbooks and digital public goods available globally so that these resources are brought together to support training and capacity building efforts.

In closing, I reassure you that Singapore remains strongly committed to AI for Global Good, and we look forward to working with you to realise our common digital future. Thank you.