Three Ministers -- Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, and Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran -- will attend this year's prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) from Jan. 22 to 25.

Held every year in the Swiss alpine town of Davos, the WEF is the place where the global elite interact and exchange big ideas.

President Donald Trump was the main attraction last year, but he will not be attending the 49th edition.

The headliners for this year’s WEF will include Prince William, Brazil's new president Jair Bolsonaro, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and 92-year old broadcaster Sir David Attenborough (the oldest participant).

The theme is “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a New Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” and will include over 350 sessions.

Flying the Singapore Flag

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said that Tharman, Heng, and Iswaran will participate and speak at various sessions, on issues including global trade and financial governance, infrastructure development, the digital economy and artificial intelligence.

Here's their participant profiles:

Heng's profile is the most extensive among the three ministers.

It highlighted Heng's role as an Education Minister and his chairmanships of the SG50 Steering Committee, the Committee on the Future Economy, and the National Research Foundation.

Last year's representatives included Tharman and Minister Chan Chun Sing

Tharman also attended last year's WEF.

He was accompanied by Chan Chun Sing who was then the NTUC Secretary-General.

Both shared Singapore’s priorities for Asean, as Singapore was the Asean Chair last year.

Tharman likely to be Heng Swee Keat's wingman at Davos

At the Institute of Policy Studies' (IPS) 30th anniversary conference on Oct. 26 last year, Chan shared a story about Tharman's role in introducing younger Singapore political leaders to other global leaders at Davos.

Chan said:

"For a small country to have continuity in policy direction we have an overlapping model. We don’t have sharp discontinuity, or we hope not to have sharp discontinuity as a model. It is the responsibility of the first generation, however you define it, to help the subsequent generation.

And for the subsequent generation to help the subsequent generation to succeed. And (we) have no illusion that, just because tomorrow somebody becomes the leader of a particularly small country like ours, that we will naturally be able to stand on the world stage effortlessly.

Can I tell you a real story? This year (in 2018) DPM Tharman brought me to Davos. And I mean it – he literally brought me to Davos.

Would I have been able to get to Davos on my own? Sure, you can buy an air ticket and book a hotel. But will anybody want to meet this “don’t know who” Chan Chun Sing from Singapore?

The answer is probably no.

DPM Tharman had to use the weight of his reputation to help us even secure meetings for the junior ones like us. And that was very gracious of him -- to say that “why don’t you give this young person from Singapore a chance? Talk to him. See whether he can make a contribution”.

That’s how we keep the flag flying high. It’s not about “Oh, I’m the clever one. I just turn up and voila, you all should bow down deeply in front of me because I am from Singapore”.

I mean, if you come from a big country, yes, maybe that might work. But that is certainly not how it is for Singapore.

First, try to move beyond the one, two, three, four, five (generation of leadership type of model).

Try to see how we can build a leadership model that has sustained presence -- that can help our country fly the flag in the international forum. To stand up there because people believe that we stand for continuity, consistency."

Please collect more name cards for Singapore, Minister Heng.

Top photo from Ministry of Finance Facebook.