60+ years of diplomatic ties: Singapore at the centre of Germany’s push for stronger Southeast Asia-Europe connection

SINGAPORE: Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Asia this week for a three-country visit that began in Singapore on Tuesday (Oct 27).

As Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong noted at a joint press conference, the two countries marked 60 years of diplomatic ties last year and agreed this year to broaden their strategic partnership, especially in AI, trade, cybersecurity, defence, and other technologies.

In Europe, Germany is Singapore’s largest trading partner, with a yearly bilateral goods trade worth S$23.4 billion and services trade at an additional S$14.1 billion.

PM Wong also pointed out that there are over 2,900 German companies based in Singapore, including global leaders such as Siemens, SAP, and Infineon, employing around 45,000 people.

“They contribute to our economy, and they use Singapore as a gateway to access opportunities across ASEAN and the wider Pacific region,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that Singapore and Germany enjoy a high level of mutual trust and strong defence ties, wth tanks and Invincible-class submarines, as well as Singapore’s first Sentinel-class Offshore Patrol Vessel, being German-made, and SAF training carried out in Oberlausitz and Kiel.

Beyond a country-level partnership, however, PM Wong said that Singapore will work to deepen ASEAN’s partnerships with the European Union as well, working toward an eventual ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement, especially since Singapore will be ASEAN chair in 2027.

“The world around us is becoming more fragmented. The zeitgeist is turning against openness and trade. Our response is not to turn inwards. Instead, it is to work with like-minded partners to build new connections,” he noted.

The Prime Minister had announced a similar free trade agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the context of his visit to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last week.

On his part, Chancellor Merz also acknowledged shared interests between the EU and Southeast Asia, saying, “Your security has a direct bearing on ours. Our security has a direct bearing on yours.”

He called the trade agreements in the region a “deliberate counterpoint to the restrictions on global trade that we are currently seeing. We want to do things differently.”

While admitting they may take time, he added, “The best would be a block-to-block agreement.”

Mr Merz was accompanied by a delegation of 30 German senior business leaders on his visit to Singapore.

In his speech, the chancellor said, “Singapore serves as an impressive example of how a country's capabilities are not solely determined by its size. It is the foresight and the government's determination that truly matter and have made Singapore what it is today.” 

On Oct 28, Mr Merz flies to Japan to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and on the following day, to South Korea, where he is scheduled to visit President Lee Jae-myung. /TISG

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