SINGAPORE, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Singapore will set aside 1.5 million Singapore dollars (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars) out of its 10-million-Singapore-dollar ASEAN Cyber Capacity Building Program (ACCP) for the next three years to boost ASEAN's technical capacity against cyber risks, the government said Monday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the second ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity, Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said that the fund will be used to build technical capability among incident responders and operators in the ASEAN region.
The ACCP was announced by the minister at the opening ceremony of the first ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity last year. It is aimed at developing technical, policy and strategy-building capabilities within ASEAN member states through workshops, seminars and conferences organized, in collaboration with partners such as government agencies, industry players and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Yaacob Ibrahim said at this year's event that Singapore will be partnering the industry to run an ASEAN Cybersecurity Industrial Attachment Program, which will offer training opportunity in Singapore for up to 18 candidates from ASEAN member states.
The minister suggested three ways to ensure a secure and resilient cyberspace in the ASEAN region.
First, the ASEAN countries need to achieve good cybersecurity domestically so as to better contribute to the regional effort. Second, the countries can work together within and beyond ASEAN to minimize cyber risks by raising the level of regional capacity and cooperation in cybersecurity. Third, the countries need to go beyond themselves and the region, and strengthen international partnerships, because a coherent and coordinated global effort is key to a trusted and resilient cyber environment.
"Hopefully we will succeed, and look back in 2067 to this day when our collective efforts to tackle cybersecurity paved the way for a sustained 50 years of growth and development," he said.
The ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity is part of the inaugural Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW), which will have an opening plenary on Tuesday morning.
The SICW is the region's most established cybersecurity event and is organized by Singapore's Cyber Security Agency. It is expected to attract over 6,000 international and regional policy makers, thought leaders, industry experts and visitors. Enditem
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