Singapore, Germany deepen AI and innovation ties

In conjunction with the Singapore-Germany Year of Innovation, both countries intend to pursue more joint research and innovation projects in emerging technologies, covering areas such as AI, advanced manufacturing, green technologies, semiconductors, quantum, and space technologies, he added.

He noted that the strong German academic and research presence here – the Technical University of Munich campus opened in Singapore in 2002, and the Max-Planck Centres for Data Driven Chemistry and Biocultural Worlding in April – has created valuable opportunities for collaboration over the years.

Amid a more fragmented world, both sides will also work to strengthen cooperation between ASEAN and the European Union, which mark 50 years of relations in 2026.

“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,” said PM Wong.

He said that as ASEAN chair in 2027, Singapore will work with Germany to deepen the 11-member grouping’s partnership with the EU, including by making progress towards an ASEAN-EU free trade agreement.

Asked about concrete steps towards this pact, PM Wong said it will be “challenging” and “complex”, but there is reason for some optimism.

The EU has started to establish bilateral trade pacts with individual ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Vietnam, and is negotiating more such pacts with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

“That gives us more confidence that ASEAN as a bloc can also make progress in our trade discussions for a free trade agreement with the EU,” he said.

Besides trade, both sides are also looking at how to bring the digital systems of the two regions together, he said, citing ASEAN’s Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the first regionwide agreement on digital economy governance covering areas such as digital trade, cross-border e-commerce, cybersecurity, digital identity, digital payments and cross-border data flows.

PM Wong noted that Germany was made an ASEAN sectoral dialogue partner in July, an important step in bringing Germany and South-east Asia closer together.

Many of the 2,900 German companies based here use Singapore as a gateway to access opportunities across ASEAN and the wider Pacific region, he said.

Chancellor Merz, speaking at the press conference, said that amid geopolitical instability in the world, there is “a very good chance of achieving an even deeper cooperation with the countries of the region”.

Speaking in German, he said he was in favour of working to integrate the existing free trade structures with Germany’s different regional partners like Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

“This will open up better opportunities in the region to us and our companies,” he said.

He added that Germany was also ready to support the ASEAN Power Grid initiative that aims to connect electricity networks across the region to enable cross-border energy trading and enhance energy security.

PM Wong said Singapore and Germany are also natural partners in upholding the international rules-based order, with both countries committed to international law and multilateral cooperation.

He welcomed Germany’s endorsement of the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges, or GUIDE, a voluntary initiative focused on protecting critical underwater infrastructure like subsea cables and pipelines.

Singapore is among the 17 founding members of the initiative launched earlier in 2026.

PM Wong said it has strengthened cooperation across regions to protect critical underwater infrastructure, which is essential to security and connectivity. 

“We believe that countries large and small benefit from a world where the rules are respected, commitments are honoured, and disputes resolved peacefully,” he added.

Defence is also an important pillar of cooperation between Singapore and Germany, said PM Wong later at dinner.

He noted that German engineering has become an important part of Singapore’s defence capabilities, from Leopard tanks to submarines to offshore patrol vessels.

He added that both sides will expand cooperation in new areas like defence technology, cybersecurity, space and supply chain resilience.

“But what matters even more than the equipment is the trust behind it,” he said, 

“All this close cooperation does not happen overnight. They reflect decades of mutual confidence, trust, and a shared commitment to each other’s security.”

At the official dinner, as the leaders prepared to tuck into a meal featuring deep-fried soft-shell crab with Singapore chilli crab sauce, and Riesling from a vineyard in Mosel, Germany, PM Wong noted that the flavours may not be the most obvious combinations.

“But the freshness and acidity of the Riesling goes remarkably well with the rich, spicy flavours of the chilli crab, and perhaps there is a lesson here about our two countries: We do not have to be alike to work well together,” he said to laughter.

“Indeed, our differences are a source of strength. Germany brings its own traditions, capabilities, and perspectives. Singapore brings ours, and when we come together, we discover new possibilities that neither of us would have imagined on our own. That’s what true partnership is about.”

In his speech later, Chancellor Merz quipped: “I can confess I like Asian food, really, and German Riesling is a perfect fit to that.”

Earlier in the day, Chancellor Merz, who is among successive German Chancellors who have visited Singapore since the late Chancellor Helmut Schmidt’s visit in 1978, also called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and was hosted to lunch by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

MFA said in a statement that President Tharman and Chancellor Merz noted the importance of mutual investments and the need for a long view in economic cooperation.

They also exchanged views on approaches to reforming and remodelling the rules-based multilateral system.

During lunch, SM Lee and Chancellor Merz discussed regional developments in Europe and Asia, and agreed on the importance of their countries collaborating with each other and like-minded partners to strengthen multilateralism and tackle common challenges, said MFA.