Keynote Address by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Tong SC at the Opening of the SCCA Asia Pacific (APAC) Legal Congress 2026
Keynote Address by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs,
Mr Edwin Tong SC
At the Opening of the SCCA Asia Pacific (APAC) Legal Congress 2026
Wednesday, 8 April 2026, One Farrer Hotel
The Honourable Attorney-General, Mr Lucien Wong SC,
Mr Daniel Choo, President of the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA),
Presidents of the in-house associations from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand, and the In-House Counsel Worldwide,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A. Opening
1. Good morning, and welcome to Singapore. It is a great pleasure to be with you here at this 4th APAC Legal Congress.
2. Let me begin with a moment of reflection, and perhaps a slight provocation.
3. As you have heard earlier, this year marks Singapore’s 200 years of the modern legal system – the Bicentennial. Two centuries since the Second Charter of Justice first planted the rule of law on this little, tiny island. Two centuries of building, refining, and constantly defending the conviction that in Singapore, law — and not power — is supreme.
4. Those who came before us to build this system were not naive idealists. They were pragmatic builders, who understood something profound – that trust and the rule of law must remain the cornerstone of the foundation of any legal, indeed, any civilised jurisdiction. It is also the premise upon which commerce flows, where contracts are kept, where talent gathers, where rights are protected, and where disputes are resolved fairly and not forcefully.
5. That conviction has held across two centuries in Singapore, but today, it is being tested almost everywhere in the world.
6. The multilateral, rules-based order that shaped the last century is fracturing. The WTO’s dispute resolution system has been hollowed out, and nations are withdrawing from international commitments and instruments that they once championed. The foundational principles of the UN Charter — principles on which many countries, including our own foreign policy are built — are no longer assumed.
7. This, however and unfortunately, is not a passing storm. Unpredictability is not a phase that we are just moving through. I think it is quickly becoming and shaping the new operating environment.
8. And in turbulent waters, having a safe harbour is not going to be a luxury. It will be a necessity.
9. My argument today, this morning, is a simple one. Singapore is that safe harbour. The global community of in-house counsel – all of you out here, those of you who work in Singapore, or who have chosen to make Singapore your base, whether local or foreign, whether in global MNCs or homegrown enterprises – you are among its most important stewards. Stewards of that rule of law, that fundamental principle that we must be governed by a clear, transparent, rules-based system. You are a big part of what makes this ecosystem work.
B. Singapore’s Value Proposition
10. This morning, I thought I will share my views with you on what Singapore has to offer, and what I see as the value proposition for in-house counsel sitting within this ecosystem.
11. Singapore is not immune to what is happening in the world. We cannot be. As a small, open economy, we feel the tremors more acutely than most others. Geopolitical shocks do not stop at our borders – in fact, they reverberate and resonate right through our tiny, little island. Supply chain fragmentation affects our businesses. Trade tensions will raise costs right across our economy.
12. But as a jurisdiction, we have made a deliberate choice — not to be limited by turbulence that we see around the world, but to be defined by our response to it.
13. Three principles, in my view, anchor that response: reliability, stability, and transparency.
14. These are not just nice-sounding or marketing words. They are our operating commitments, and principles in practice. And they have become more valuable, not less, precisely because the world around us has become more unpredictable.
15. Let me quickly unpack what I mean.
16. First, reliability simply means this: When Singapore makes a commitment, we keep it. The rule of law is the bedrock on which our legal foundations are built. Our intellectual property protections are robust, commercially sensible, and ranked among the best in the world. Our regulatory regimes are clear, but more importantly, the enforcement is consistent and uniform. And our dispute resolution ecosystem — whether you use the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), or the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) — it gives every business operating in Singapore the quiet confidence that if something goes wrong with an investment, if there is a trade dispute, if there is a contractual dispute, there will be a fair, efficient, transparent and trusted path to resolution.
17. Second, stability. It is critical, because stability lends itself to long-term planning. All of your organisations look well beyond the horizon. Long-term planning, having the stability of a framework that you understand and you know will not be removed overnight. Our policy directions do not shift with geo-political winds. Our commitment to open borders is not rhetorical. To give all of you an indicator: Last year in 2025, Singapore was ranked by the Index of Economic Freedom as the most open economy in the world. 2025 is also the same year that global protectionism reached heights not seen in the world since the 1930s.
18. So a contrast between what is happening around the world and what we see in Singapore, as more and more countries look inwards, friendshoring, reshoring, looking after their own interests, we believe that it is in Singapore’s interest to remain open. And to remain open, it means capital flows must be open, talent flows must be open. We continue to ensure that the best that will make our jurisdiction brighter, more vibrant, and our economy thriving, will come into Singapore. While others turn inward, we have deepened our network of free trade agreements. Where others retreated, we have doubled down on our commitment to open, fair and inclusive commerce.
19. Third, transparency and predictability, because it means you will never be left guessing. Our government routinely engages with corporations directly. We communicate regulatory changes well in advance. We signpost it, we telegraph it early. We tell people that this is what we are thinking, and we consult. We believe that the best regulation is, as far as possible, co-created with the people who work and live within the regulations.
20. Of all these three fundamental pillars which I just outlined, the results are tangible. Nearly half of all global MNCs with Asia-Pacific regional headquarters have chosen Singapore. If you are an MNC and you want to seek a regional presence anywhere in the Asia Pacific, more than half of them have chosen Singapore. Over 4,000 businesses with revenues exceeding $100 million operate here in Singapore.
21. Fixed asset investment has grown from S$11.5 billion in 2015 to S$14.2 billion in 2025. Right through the entire COVID-19 period, we have continued to grow and see a growth in investments flowing into Singapore. Where do they go into? They go into AI, the green economy, and precision medicine amongst others. Over 4,000 technology start-ups today call Singapore its home. We capture more than two-thirds of the region’s venture capital funding. All of which adds to the economic diversity I spoke about that finds home in Singapore.
C. You Belong Here
22. In that context and against this backdrop, let me just turn quickly to how you, each of you, can operate as in-house counsel in Singapore.
23. Singapore today has approximately 4,800 active in-house counsel, and that is a 33% increase from a decade ago. You take the same period 2015 to 2025, we have seen a one-third increase in the number of in-house counsel. What does that show? That growth, I believe, reflects the expansion of global enterprises anchored with operations here. I talked about global MNCs having presence here. I talked about investment flows coming in here. None of that would be possible without the growth of in-house counsel. So in-house counsel helps us power that growth. But I think we have also seen this growth in the shift because we have built a legal environment in Singapore where in-house counsel are valued, their work protected and given the best conditions in which to do their work.
24. Let me give you one example. More than 10 years ago in 2012, Singapore amended the Evidence Act to statutorily enshrine legal professional privilege for in-house counsel. That was a significant but also considered and principled decision. We thought about it carefully, and we decided to move, although in many jurisdictions around the world in-house counsel still might operate in the grey zones — uncertain whether your advice is protected, uncertain whether you are truly free to advise candidly. We heard what Daniel said earlier — when you get a call from your head of operations, from a CFO, COO or CEO, they are not asking you just legal questions, but within the answer you give has to be an assimilation of the legal principles and understanding of the law, where the law might shift to, what changes might be made. You are giving a strategic decision, but what underpins that is the freedom to give legal advice. In Singapore, we closed that gap deliberately. Because we believe that in-house counsel cannot function as a genuine strategic adviser, which is what we want you to be, if you are always looking over your shoulder as to whether the advice you give is protected by privilege.
25. Our message is a clear one: we are a jurisdiction which sees tremendous value in the role of an in-house counsel. It respects what you do. It has built, and we will continue to build the infrastructure to support the work that you do.
26. In addition, we do not see in-house counsel as merely users of Singapore’s legal infrastructure. We believe that you are an integral part of it. The quality of legal thinking inside the organisations operating here in Singapore is inseparable from the quality of our legal system as a whole, which is why your growth here matters to us deeply. We hope to see all of you collectively grow, both in number, but perhaps more importantly, in stature.
27. So let me offer you three challenges as you look forward to the evolving roles of an in-house counsel in today’s complex, turbulent, difficult, VUCA world.
28. First — in the role that each of you play in your organisation, be the architect, not just the gatekeeper.
29. We know the cliche version of the in-house counsel that gets called in after the decision has already been done and dusted, the deal has been signed, term sheets have been agreed, and you are just asked to “make it work.” Well, that version, I think, is losing relevance — and fast. The best organisations who are successful in navigating today’s complexity will need legal judgment at the beginning of the conversation, not at the end. The counsel who shapes the question — rather than simply reviewing the answer — is the one who becomes genuinely indispensable.
30. Second — be the strategist of the organisation, not just the compliance officer. Do not just say what cannot be done, but say, how can we do this? How do we take ourselves to the next level and how do we meet our business strategies. In particular, be the AI strategist at the cutting edge of technology.
31. AI regulation, as Stanley Park (Honorary Member of SCCA) said earlier in the introduction, it is something we are looking at. It is fragmenting across the world and in real time. If you look at the EU AI Act, Singapore’s Model AI Governance Framework, China’s algorithm regulations, India’s emerging frameworks — these all represent different jurisdictions’ attempts at grappling with the problem that is emerging, and they are not by any stretch at the end of the journey on that score. But also, these do not just reflect different rules or different thinking. They reflect fundamentally different philosophies about control, liability, and the values embedded in the systems that will govern basic decisions like hiring decisions, credit assessments, and commercial relationships and that will impact these decisions for decades to come.
32. Most organisations are navigating this landscape without as yet, a coherent framework. I believe that is a gap. And it is precisely the kind of gap that in-house counsel who sit at the intersection of law, business, ethics, geopolitics and most importantly, cross-border, trans-boundary jurisdictions that are uniquely positioned to fill. The counsel who builds a cross-jurisdictional AI governance framework appreciates it, understands it, understands the dynamics of how it might work in one country over another, and the differences across different boundary lines is not merely legally defensive. They are not just doing legal work but driving strategy.
33. Third — and perhaps most importantly in these times, I think in-house counsel can be the conscience of the organisation.
{:start=”34”} 34. AI will make most lawyers work faster, there is no doubt about that, but it will not necessarily make them wiser. What organisations need from their legal function, now more than ever, is that willingness to ask the hard questions, and the courage to insist on a different path when commercial pressure says just look away. No algorithm produces that judgment. No model generates that integrity. But I think in-house counsel sitting again, as I said earlier, at the intersection of law and commercial principles and judgment and intuition, I think you are uniquely placed to do.
D. Our Commitment to You
{:start=”35”} 35. My ministry, MinLaw, is committed to supporting in-house counsel in Singapore — not as a throwaway line, or as a courtesy, but because we see it deeply as a conviction. We believe that when you do well, MNCs do well, they either come to or stay in Singapore, as I illustrated earlier, and that overall, it means that the Singapore economy benefits.
36. We are therefore working closely with the in-house counsel community to understand the challenges you face and try as far as possible to work with you to co-develop better support, for example on your AI adoption journey, which you heard from earlier speakers, will be the topic of the day for some time to come.
37. Together with IMDA and the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association, we are building an AI Fluency programme, specifically designed for in-house counsel — because we want you to be equipped, not just informed. Not just told about what AI will be, but we want you to have the tools to use it and to integrate it into your workflow. We will strengthen access to professional development opportunities, to help you navigate complex, diverse markets across the Asia-Pacific. We will invest in building a vibrant, connected in-house counsel community in Singapore and right across the region.
38. We see you as part of our broader legal industry, and hope to work with you, but at the same time, also tap into the breadth of your experience and the depths of your knowledge, because of all of you sit at the cutting edge of commerce.
39. You do what you do because it drives the business strategy of each of your organisations, and you will be the ones who will probably see it first on the ground which rules do not quite fit neatly, or perhaps the intended purpose might not quite be how it is experienced on the ground. You might come across well-intentioned regulation that might create unintended friction. Where AI practice is moving faster than the frameworks designed to govern it, for example.
40. We need all of that feedback, that intelligence. Not just occasionally — but I hope consistently, to allow us to understand how what we do materialises in practice, to allow the laws and practices of our jurisdiction to evolve faster, to meet the needs of the commercial users. And I can say with some conviction that in Singapore, we will be able, once we spot a gap in our regulations, to move very quickly to close that gap.
E. Closing
41. Finally, as I conclude and I look around the room today, I see in this room some of the most strategically positioned lawyers in the Asia-Pacific. You sit inside the organisations making the decisions that will define the next decade — whether it is on AI, on market entry, on supply chain resilience, the green economy and so on.
42. 200 years ago, those who built Singapore’s legal system were guided by a single conviction — that this must be a place where the rule of law reigns supreme, where trust is at the foundation, and where the future is built on principle, and not expedience.
43. That conviction, as I said earlier, has not wavered across two centuries. And it will not.
44. The world needs places and institutions where law holds, and the rule of law is supreme; where commitments mean something; where the next generation of legal leaders is shaped and supported.
45. We intend for Singapore to be one of those places, and we are investing heavily to ensure that we remain so.
46. In this regard, the SCCA plays a vital role in advancing the professional growth of in-house counsel, in bringing together the in-house counsel community in Singapore, in partnering with counterparts around the world, to extend that community beyond our shores, and in working with us in Government to shape a forward-looking legal ecosystem.
47. We see SCCA as a key partner in building the future of in-house counsel in Singapore, and as a really important bridge to the global community.
48. To our colleagues from in-house counsel associations overseas, thank you for your presence here. We value your partnership and the perspectives you bring to the table. The connections between our communities matter more than ever today in a world where businesses, supply chains, and legal risks are increasingly global, and highly and deeply interconnected. We look forward to deepening these with you in the years ahead.
49. Finally, something on this Congress. This Congress, as you heard earlier, is best attended in the four iterations, I see it as a valuable opportunity to build on those connections – both within Singapore’s in-house legal community as well as with partners beyond our shores. Beyond the formalities and the panels and the discussions which are all important, I encourage all of you to take the time to also connect, to engage, and build lasting relationships because I think at the end of the day, in today’s VUCA world, that will matter a lot. The relations that you build, the friendships that you forge, and the connections that you have and the networks that you have right across, not just the Asia Pacific, but across the world.
50. On that note, I wish all of you a thoroughly enriching and engaging legal Congress!
51. Thank you very much for having me.
Last updated on 8 April 2026