Dialogue Sessions and Workshops for Students, Youths and Businesses to Improve Foreign Policy Understanding

36 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the past year (a) how many dialogue sessions and workshops have been conducted for students, youths and businesses to help them understand Singapore's foreign policy; (b) what was the total attendance for each group; (c) how is the effectiveness of these efforts measured beyond attendance numbers; and (d) what other modes of engagement has the Ministry employed or have plans to employ.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The Government has stepped up public engagement to explain our foreign policy fundamentals and approaches and to hear Singaporeans' views. Since January 2024, we have conducted about 150 dialogue sessions and workshops with students, youths and businesses. Attendance for each session ranges from approximately 20 to 1,000 participants depending on the engagement format.

We collect feedback from participants at these engagements to better understand the clarity of the messages and effectiveness of the format. We aim to continuously improve on the content and delivery of the dialogues and engagements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also been providing more content digitally on social media accounts to reach a wider audience. We are also exploring more interactive small group workshops to allow for deeper discussions with the participants.