Singapore is on the other side of the world, and like Ireland is a small and very open economy. It relies on free trade and has grown wealthy on FDI. As the world heads into a more protectionist stance and de-globalisation kicks in, both countries fear for the new world order. Both nations also want to find new trading partners to wean themselves off dependencies on much larger economies. 

The Editor of the Financial Times, Roula Khalif, spoke to the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, and began by asking him about America's withdrawal from the role of leader of the free trading world.