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Closing Address by Minister Chee Hong Tat for Mayors Forum 2026
SPEECH BY MR CHEE HONG TAT,
MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT,
FOR THE CLOSING ADDRESS
AT THE WORLD CITIES SUMMIT 2026 MAYORS FORUM,
ON 14 JUNE 2026,
SUNTEC CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE
Introduction
1. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks to your strong support, we had a fruitful and productive World Cities Summit Mayors Forum.
2. On behalf of the organisers, I would like to extend my appreciation to all the cities, delegates, and organisations in attendance, for your active participation and contributions to the Forum.
- I enjoyed listening to your remarks and presentations, and have learnt much from your sharing. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to our three wonderful moderators – Winston, Greg and Tamara.
Key Insights from Presentations
3. It is clear from today’s discussions that this year’s theme, “Act Now!”, resonates strongly with many of the participants.
- In these turbulent and uncertain times, we recognise the need to “Accelerate, Collaborate, and Transform” or ACT – and we must start doing so immediately, to create liveable, resilient and sustainable cities.
4. As the song “It’s now or never” by Elvis Presley goes, “Tomorrow will be too late, it’s now or never, my love won’t wait.”
5. We also agree that we can achieve more by learning from one another and applying the lessons of those who have gone before us and have taken decisive actions in their cities.
- These include positive examples of best practices that we can emulate, as well as examples of mistakes to avoid. Both categories are equally valuable and relevant. And I thank our speakers and participants for sharing openly and candidly on their experiences.
- Several cities have already demonstrated how they have “Act[ed] Now” to apply practical approaches or sound policies that provide affordable housing, advance urban energy transition, enhance water resilience, and deliver reliable and efficient municipal services.
6. One of the things that I took away, in addition to the wonderful summary that the moderators have shared – is that while government is not going to act alone, governments need to act, because we are dealing with important issues, long-term issues, public groups. It is not possible to leave these important issues entirely to the private sector. Governments need to act, and we need to act now, and we need to act together.
7. Take financing as an example. Any of the projects that we spoke about – whether it is infrastructure, housing, energy, water or to deliver better municipal services – all these will require investments, will require resources, will require financing. There is a Chinese saying which goes: 钱不是万能， 但是没钱就万万不能 – which translates into “money is not everything, but without money, we can’t do anything". So while we know that money is not everything, we do need to have sufficient resources to enable the agencies to be able to carry out those projects, to build the infrastructure and to improve municipal services.
8. Now where is the financing going to come from? One source is the public funds through tax revenue, tax collection. We also have multilateral development banks (MDBs), which are supporting projects across different parts of the world. But an important source of capital that we should not ignore would be private capital. So, the question for us is – how do we, as governments, structure our policies to create that long-term certainty and to have investor confidence to be able to make the projects investable, to have the private capital to complement public funds, and funds from the MDBs to be able to accelerate the development of these very important projects.
Call to Action
9. The decisions that we make today will determine whether our cities thrive or struggle in the years ahead.
- We live in a world of growing complexity and mounting challenges, where climate risks, energy pressures, and rapid urban change demand bold and innovative solutions.
10. And we know no single city can meet these challenges alone.
- This is why it is imperative that we collaborate with one another, take calculated risks in trying new ideas, and focus on effective implementation to turn innovative ideas into concrete outcomes.
- These include actions that build and strengthen inter-city networks and partnerships, initiatives that encourage the sharing of knowledge, and the provision of safe environments such as the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum where we can share openly and learn from one another.
11. On this note, I am pleased to announce that we will be signing a Letter of Agreement with Mexico City today on hosting next year’s Mayors Forum.
- Mexico City was awarded the 2024 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize for its commitment to uplifting the lives of its citizens through innovative urban initiatives, especially for the less privileged.
- It is a city that also embodies this year’s theme, particularly in its collaborations with disadvantaged citizens on environmental strategies.
- I had the privilege of visiting Mexico City on a few occasions when I was previously with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as part of our discussions for the Pacific Alliance-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
- It is a beautiful city, full of energy and dynamism. And I love the food and music in Mexico, including my first encounter with mezcal.
- I also learnt this phrase from my Mexican friends: “para todo mal, mezcal; y para todo bien, Tambien”. It means “whether things are good or bad, there is always mezcal”.
12. Like everyone here, I look forward to attending next year’s Mayors Forum in Mexico City, where we can continue our wonderful conversations. I hope you serve us mezcal.
13. Thank you very much everyone. Hope you enjoy the next two days of the World Cities Summit.
Thank you.