At meetings in Singapore, Estonian DefMin top official talks about reserve army, tech

TALLINN – The secretary general of the Estonian Ministry of Defense, Kusti Salm, was one of the speakers in the opening panel of the conference of the Singapore Defense Technology Summit, while in bilateral meetings with Singaporean officials possibilities for cooperation between the two countries in cyber defense and technologies, as well as sharing experiences and best practices in the field of conscript service and reserve army were discussed.

The Singapore defense technology conference this year focused on the impact of new technologies on the field of defense and society at large. Estonia's knowledge of cyber defense and developments based on new technologies are valued highly, which enables us to participate in discussions shaping the future of the field of defense, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Defense said.

The secretary general of the Estonian Ministry of Defense met with his counterpart Chan Heng Kee and undersecretary of capability development Joseph Leong. He also met with people active in the fields of defense sciences, technology and cyber defense.

"Singapore and Estonia are both located in challenging regions in terms of security policy, and the defense of both countries is built on defense involving the whole society, with a reserve army at its core," Salm said.

He pointed out that the reserve army system is unique, and Estonia and Singapore are both among the countries that use this system.

"We would like to share our experiences on this subject. We have a lot to learn from each other and we can also share experiences," he added.

Innovation and cyber defense also play an important role in the national defense of Estonia and Singapore, in which there are many places for cooperation.

"In Estonia, we support our companies in the creation of innovative and high-tech solutions," the official said.

Speaking of these fields, more progress has been made to date in cyber defense, robotics and autonomous systems.

"Several products of our defense industry are already present in Singapore today, but we also want to support new players reaching here," Salm said.

In the meetings that Salm had in Singapore, also the continuation of greater cooperation still on cyber defense, both in organizing exercises and sharing best practices, for example in the field of cyber conscript service, was discussed. Salm also introduced the Estonian cyber range CR14 as a cooperation partner in research and development.