02 Oct 2023
Mr Chair,
1 Singapore congratulates you on your election as Chair of the Sixth Committee. We are delighted to see another ASEAN country on the podium. We assure you and the members of your bureau of our full support during this session. We align ourselves with the statements made by NAM and ASEAN. We also wish to thank the Secretary-General for his report.
2 Terrorism remains a clear and serious threat to international peace and security. It is contrary to the rule of law and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and continues to be a long-standing, complex challenge which no country can address alone. We need to stay vigilant and continue our efforts in the fight against international terrorism at all levels – domestically, regionally, and internationally.
3 In this respect, I wish to highlight examples of counter-terrorism measures that Singapore has taken at each of these levels. First, at the domestic level, We published our National Strategy on Countering the Financing of Terrorism in October 2022. This Strategy is the blueprint for Singapore’s national approach to addressing terrorism financing and serves as the roadmap for future measures to prevent, detect and deter terrorism financing. The Strategy also enhances coordination of actions by law enforcement agencies, policy makers, regulators and supervisors, and, as appropriate, the private sector in Singapore.
4 Secondly, at the regional level, Singapore is co-chairing the Senior Officials Counter-Terrorism Policy Forum together with Australia and Thailand in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Established in 2020 under the auspices of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Meeting on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Security, this Forum undertakes detailed discussions on shared regional counter-terrorism and security policy issues, identifies gaps, develops new initiatives, and drives enhanced regional connectivity between interior ministries and counter-terrorism agencies.
5 Thirdly, at the international level, Singapore remains committed to the global fight against terrorism. We are party to 15 international counter-terrorism agreements and we remain supportive of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the ongoing efforts of the General Assembly in regularly implementing and updating the Strategy. We welcome the adoption of the Assembly’s resolution on the eighth review of the Strategy this year.
Mr Chair,
6 The General Assembly last year recommended that this Committee at its seventy-eighth session establish a working group with a view to finalizing the process on the draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism as well as discussions on the question of convening a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations. My delegation looks forward to working closely with this working group in our efforts to achieve a consensual outcome concerning the outstanding issues on these matters.
7 I thank you very much for your attention.
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