S'pore & Germany upgrade relations to 'strategic partnership', will cooperate more closely on climate action & AI

Singapore and Germany have upgraded relations to a "strategic partnership", and will cooperate more closely in key areas, such as climate action, cybersecurity and trade.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced in a press statement on Nov. 19, 2024 that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the joint declaration at the G20 Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

The two leaders affirmed the excellent state of Singaporean-German ties and their mutual commitment to continue working as like-minded partners.

In a press release on the same day, the German Embassy in Singapore said:

"Germany and Singapore are longstanding partners who enjoy a substantive and multifaceted relationship. We also share a strong commitment to multilateralism and a rules-based international order.

This strategic convergence underpins our common desire to promote free trade and maintain an open and inclusive international architecture."

The strategic partnership encompasses five pillars of cooperation, as follows:

Political, Defence, (Cyber) Security and Intelligence

• This includes deepening military-to-military cooperation, establishing a secure line of communication to exchange information, and enhancing cooperation on AI development.

Trade, Investment, Transport and Digital

• Support the EU-Singapore free trade agreement, which could lead to a possible EU-Asean free trade agreement.
• The two countries will also deepen cooperation in the matters of land transport, including on autonomous and electric vehicles.

Climate, Green Economy, Energy Transition

• Create areas of cooperation on carbon pricing and decarbonisation.
• Strengthen cooperation at the bilateral level through regular knowledge and technical exchanges, particularly on waste management.
• Cooperate on green maritime decarbonisation initiatives, like sharing information on zero and near-zero emissions fuel.

Research science, Technology, Innovation

• Strengthen synergy between Singapore and Germany’s R&D and start-up ecosystems.
• Implement joint research grants and projects in fields like quantum technology, information and communication technologies, and more.

Multilevel cooperation for the future

• Strengthen partnerships at the state level through liaison offices in Singapore.
• Support existing cooperation in education, including curriculum development for a new technical engineer diploma (TED) in electrical engineering focusing on clean energy between Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and schools in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg.
• Strengthen cultural exchanges in both countries.

Top image via MDDI.