Singapore-Japan Ties Evolve Over 60 Years, Entering A New Phase, Says Singapore PM

SINGAPORE, March 17 (Bernama) -- Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong highlighted that the Singapore-Japan relationship has evolved significantly over the past six decades and is ready for a new phase.

Wong, who is scheduled to make a three-day official visit to Japan beginning Tuesday, said the 60-year dedicated partnership provided firm foundations for both nations to navigate a world marked by intense uncertainty, fragmentation, and disruption.

"As like-minded countries with a shared commitment to free trade and rules-based multilateralism, there is much more that we can do together," he said in an op-ed for Japanese publication Nikkei on Tuesday.

The translated copy of the op-ed was made available on the Prime Minister's Office’s official website.

The prime minister proposed for Singapore and Japan to further strengthen their already robust economic ties since both nations participate in many of the same regional, plurilateral, and international initiatives.

"We should build on these foundations to ensure economic resilience and shared prosperity,” he said.

According to Wong, both Singapore and Japan could work more closely with ASEAN, expanding the economic cooperation further to include the region and beyond.

"Singapore is the country coordinator for ASEAN-Japan relations and will assume the ASEAN chair in 2027.

"Japan has also strengthened its engagement of Southeast Asia. Together, we can leverage the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to advance regional priorities like the ASEAN Power Grid," he added.

In addition, Wong also suggested that Singapore and Japan can pursue new opportunities in the digital economy and  collaborate more in frontier areas like artificial intelligence, quantum, and space.

-- BERNAMA