[SPEECH] Welcome address by Mr Chan Tsan, CE of HTX, at MTX (Milipol TechX Summit) 2026

Mr K Shanmugam

Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs

Your Excellency, Mr Jean-Didier Berger

Minister Delegate to the Minister of Interior, France

Ministers, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Welcome to the MTX (Milipol TechX Summit) 2026.
   
2. It is a pleasure to see so many leaders, partners, innovators and practitioners gathered here in Singapore today. Your presence reflects the growing importance of this platform, and the shared commitment to advancing public safety through science and technology.
   
3. At a time of growing uncertainty and contestation, platforms like MTX matter even more. They bring together the people, ideas and partnerships needed to turn innovation into real-world capability.
   
4. MTX 2026 marks the next chapter of this platform. Building on the success of Milipol Asia-Pacific – TechX Summit in 2024, we come together this year under a refreshed and unified brand identity that reflects a deeper partnership between HTX and our French counterparts.
   
5. I want to express our appreciation to the French Ministry of the Interior for its strong support of this partnership, and to our valued partner, Civipol, for its steadfast commitment in bringing this joint endeavour to life.
   
6. We expect visitorship to grow from 12,000 in 2024 to 15,000 at MTX 2026. That growth reflects both the strength of this partnership and the increasing significance of this platform.
   
7. Our theme this year is “Supercharging Innovation for our Safer Tomorrow.”
   
8. It is a theme that speaks directly to the mission before us: to harness emerging technologies responsibly, and to translate innovation into stronger public safety outcomes.
   
9. Over the next few days, I encourage all of you to engage actively in the conference and exhibition at MTX, and also in DEF CON Singapore.
   
10. The conference brings together government, industry and academia to exchange views on shared challenges — from scams and emerging threats, to AI and robotics for public safety, to the important questions of ethics, governance and trust. Delegate participation is expected to grow from 2,400 in 2024 to 3,000 this year.
    
11. We are honoured to have with us many distinguished speakers and panelists from around the world. In particular, we look forward to the keynote address by Mr Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral AI, shortly after this.
    
12. The exhibition has also expanded significantly from 2024, reflecting strong industry momentum and growing international interest in public safety innovation. Our MTX Signatures Zone has doubled its number of partners from 2024, with many more organisations coming on board to showcase technologies and capabilities from around the world.
    
13. I thank all our partners for their support. In particular, I thank our two cornerstone partners, ST Engineering and NCS, and warmly welcome our newly onboarded partners, whose fresh perspectives and capabilities strengthen the innovation ecosystem on display here.
    
14. The strong participation from both Singapore-based and international exhibitors speaks for itself. The presence of country pavilions is another reminder that public safety innovation is a global endeavour.
    
15. And for the first time ever, Singapore is hosting DEF CON – right here alongside MTX.
    
16. DEF CON Singapore reflects something we believe strongly at HTX: that innovation must not only be built, but also tested, challenged and sharpened. By opening up emerging technologies — including our own — to scrutiny from the global cybersecurity community, we can surface vulnerabilities early and make our systems more robust for real-world operations.
    
17. I would like to thank Jeff Moss and the DEF CON team for working with HTX to make this possible.
    
18. MTX is more than a conference and exhibition. It is a platform to strengthen the partnerships that public safety will increasingly depend on.
    
19. I am confident that the conversations and partnerships forged here will help shape the future of public safety — and deliver a safer tomorrow for all of us.
    
20. Thank you, and I wish all of you a productive and inspiring MTX 2026.