PM Wong to make official visits to Qatar & UAE from Oct. 18 to 22

Singapore’s Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will be making official visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Oct. 18 to 22.

This will be the first time PM Wong has visited either country as PM.

He is doing so at the invitation of Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE.

PM Wong will visit Qatar from Oct. 18 to 20, and the UAE from Oct. 20 to 22, according to an Oct. 17 statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Qatar

While in Qatar, he will call on Tamim, and both men will co-chair the ninth Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee (HLJC).

PM Wong will also meet his Qatari counterpart, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister Mohammed Bid Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thani.

PM Wong and the Emir previously met on the sidelines of the 2nd Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Kuala Lumpur in May 2025.

The pair previously spoke in March this year, when PM Wong called to voice Singapore’s support for ongoing diplomatic efforts by Qatar, just after the United States launched attacks on Iran, resulting in retaliatory attacks on U.S. bases in the region, including in Qatar.

The United Arab Emirates

While in the UAE, PM Wong will visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and will call on the UAE president, Sheikh Mohamed.

He similarly had a call with Sheikh Mohamed in March this year, where he discussed events in the region and thanked the UAE president for supporting and assisting Singaporeans residing there.

He will also meet the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

While in Dubai, he will meet the deputy prime minister, finance minister, and deputy ruler of Dubai, Maktoum Bin Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

PM Wong will also meet overseas Singaporeans in Doha and Dubai.

The visits will provide a "timely opportunity for Singapore to exchange views with regional leaders on developments in the Middle East", PMO said in its statement.

They would also reaffirm Singapore's support for dialogue and diplomacy, as well as strengthen cooperation with Qatar and the UAE in areas of mutual interest, particularly energy security and economic resilience.

Visiting ministers

PM Wong will be accompanied by his wife, Loo Tze Lui, as well as Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Tan See Leng, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

During the working visit, DPM Gan Kim Yong will act as prime minister.