Singapore & Japan upgrade ties to strategic partnership

TOKYO – Singapore and Japan have upgraded their bilateral ties, with deeper cooperation planned in a wide range of areas, from artificial intelligence to the green transition.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on March 18 that the two countries have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership, in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

The strategic partnership will deepen the foundations of the substantive and multifaceted relationship between both countries, and expand cooperation in five forward-looking areas, said a joint statement issued after both leaders and their delegations met at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.

These areas are: promoting free trade and economic cooperation; digitalisation and technology; security and defence; green transition and energy cooperation; and partnership and exchanges.

Among the new agreements was the establishment of an information and communications technology policy dialogue between Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and its Japanese counterpart. This will allow both sides to explore cooperation in the digital fields, including digital infrastructure development, said the statement.

The two sides also agreed to deepen their partnership in AI to build a safe, secure and trustworthy AI ecosystem. This includes areas such as AI safety and governance, as well as AI models that respect local languages and cultures.

The two countries will also promote research cooperation to advance cutting-edge fields such as AI, quantum, future communications and next-generation semiconductors.

Speaking at the start of the delegation meeting, PM Wong said Japan has been a reliable and valuable partner for Singapore in the past 60 years.

“Today, our relationship has matured, and we have become partners with similar strategic outlooks and complementary strengths, and our cooperation is multifaceted, substantial and mutually beneficial,” he said.

Japan and Singapore share similar principles and views of the world, and there is a strategic imperative to further deepen bilateral cooperation, given the profound changes in the world today, he added.

“As like-minded partners, I believe we can work together to uphold a multilateral, rules-based system, and an open and inclusive regional architecture,” said PM Wong.

Ms Takaichi said she hoped that both countries would in 2026 further deepen their “already strong ties” through diverse exchanges and programmes.

“Our two nations, as like-minded countries, have together defended and promoted rules-based, free and open international order and free trade,” she said in Japanese.

She added: “Japan and Singapore are firmly united as nations that can place confidence in each other.”

Another pact under the strategic partnership is the Energy, Sustainability and Climate Cooperation Framework that both countries signed ahead of PM Wong’s visit. This is his first official visit to Japan as prime minister.

Under the framework, the relevant ministries on both sides will work more closely in areas such as cross-border electricity imports, low-carbon hydrogen or ammonia, civil nuclear energy and liquified natural gas.

The collaboration could be in the form of policy exchanges, business facilitation, facilitation of financial cooperation, and mutual recognition of standards, regulations and certification, said Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The two sides also signed a memorandum of cooperation to mutually recognise each other’s labelling scheme for smart devices, which will kick in on June 1.

This means manufacturers will be able to apply through a streamlined process for the other country’s labelling scheme for products such as smart home assistants, home automation and alarm systems, and hubs that connect multiple devices.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong inspecting a guard of honour with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on March 18.

PHOTO: MDDI

The arrangement, similar to what Singapore has previously established with Finland, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom, is meant to enhance cybersecurity standards for smart devices, provide market access for manufacturers, and give consumers greater confidence in such devices’ security.

Other agreements include further facilitating trade and investment flows and agri-food trade, as well as cooperation in personal data protection and between both countries’ space agencies.

The upgraded ties will also strengthen the two countries’ cooperation on a plethora of issues in the international arena, especially when the international security environment and multilateral trading system are confronting increasingly significant challenges, said the joint statement.

Earlier on March 18, PM Wong was accorded a guard-of-honour welcome ceremony, and was hosted to a working dinner by Ms Takaichi.

He also had lunch with Japanese business leaders and met three former Japanese prime ministers: Mr Fumio Kishida, Mr Taro Aso and Mr Shigeru Ishiba.

In a Facebook post in the evening, PM Wong thanked Ms Takaichi for her warm hospitality, and said he had a candid and wide-ranging discussion with her on expanding cooperation and navigating global developments.

As Singapore is Asean’s coordinator for relations with Japan, they also discussed priorities for the year ahead and how Japan can play a larger role in promoting peace and stability in the region, he added.

The two leaders also exchanged gifts that reflected their shared love for music. PM Wong received a red leather guitar strap from Ms Takaichi, and presented her with a personalised pair of Jomo Audio earphones and a classic Deep Purple record.

Jomo Audio is a Singaporean maker of high-fidelity audio equipment, and the brand name is derived from its founder Joseph Mou’s initials.

Singapore has upgraded diplomatic ties with a number of countries recently.

In 2025, it elevated ties with South Korea to a strategic partnership. The city-state also raised its bilateral ties with France, Vietnam and New Zealand to the level of comprehensive strategic partnerships, and with Australia to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.

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