SINGAPORE – What matters is not how much countries spend on defence, but how the money is used, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing, noting that there is no straight line between defence expenditure and capabilities.
Speaking to reporters on May 31 at the close of the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue, Chan said that what matters is how innovative the ideas are and how much “bang for the buck” one can get for the same or less expenditure.
Countries must pull their own weight to be credible and relevant partners, but as nations raise their defence spending and build more capabilities, they must also spend time and effort reassuring one another, he stressed.
“The more powerful we are, the more effort we need to spend to reassure others because, ultimately, in the defence sector, people look at not just capabilities – people look at intentions,” he said.
Countries spend different amounts and use their expenditure differently, Chan noted.
“Some countries spend a lot, but they do not get commensurate capability.”
Instead, it is important to spend consistently to build “real capabilities”, particularly in human capital, he added.
“It takes years to train a pilot, a sailor and so forth. It takes even more years for us to build up the scientific community (and) the technological capabilities, in order to translate some of those spending into real capabilities,” he said.
The issue of defence spending was a theme of the dialogue for the second year running.
In a speech on May 30, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the US has pledged to prioritise working with “model allies” that have risen to its call for a more equitable sharing of the global security burden.
He lauded the response of Indo-Pacific partners to the US’ expectation that they spend 3.5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
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