Singapore, Australia upgrade ties; will deepen cooperation in defence and energy, among others

CANBERRA – Singapore and Australia will deepen their cooperation in many areas from defence to trade, as they further elevate bilateral ties.

Both sides on Oct 8 laid out what Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called a “very full and ambitious agenda” of 20 agreements under an upgraded Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), or CSP 2.0, as the countries marked 60 years of ties.

The CSP 2.0, inked in Australia’s capital Canberra on Oct 8, encompasses strengthening cooperation in defence, supply chain resilience,

green and digital economies,

food security, renewable energy and innovation, as well as emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and space.

The upgraded partnership builds on the first CSP signed in 2015, and will comprise 80 initiatives, including 20 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and agreements, as well as 11 new dialogues.

These dialogues cover five areas of bilateral cooperation, including peace and stability on the home front and in the region, further connecting the two economies, and the countries’ transitions to net-zero emissions targets.

Speaking to the press alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra, PM Wong said the first CSP had delivered “real and tangible benefits for both countries”.

These included “pathfinding” pacts like the world’s first digital and green economy agreements, which were later emulated by other countries.

Beyond benefiting both countries, he noted, this was an example of how multilateralism can be strengthened in the wider world.

“So when we work together like that, we are not only looking at bilateral initiatives that benefit each one of us, but also looking with a view to preserve important multilateral frameworks or strengthen multilateral frameworks that will enable us to keep the rules-based global system going,” he said.

The work on this new agenda with CSP 2.0 has already started, added PM Wong, who, together with Mr Albanese, held the 10th Singapore-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting earlier in the day.

For instance, both sides have signed an MOU on economic resilience to ensure that critical goods continue to flow between the two countries during times of crisis or disruption.

Singapore and Australia will work towards negotiating an arrangement on trade in essential supplies by the end of 2026 and explore options for a legally binding commitment in the future, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry in a separate statement. An Australia-Singapore economic resilience dialogue will also be established.

Asked for further details, PM Wong said the countries are looking broadly at a range of essential supplies, such as food and medical supplies, building on experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic when there had been vaccine swops.

“Many countries had imposed restrictions on exports, imports, and it was a very difficult time for both our countries; but because of the trust that we have between Australia and Singapore, we kept supply lines flowing between our two countries,” he said.

The two countries will also cooperate in new and emerging areas like cyber, digital, space and AI, as a means to shape international standards and harness the transformative potential of these new technologies, said PM Wong.

During their meetings, PM Wong and Mr Albanese also exchanged views on regional and international developments, including the need to promote economic integration and strengthen multilateralism and Asean-Australia relations, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

In his remarks at the joint press conference, PM Wong noted that Singapore and Australia will have to “work together to shape the architecture for cooperation in the region”.

Australia has expressed its keenness to deepen trade and investment ties with South-east Asia through initiatives such as its Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 and its contribution of A$175 million (S$149 million) to Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership, and Singapore will continue to support such efforts, said PM Wong.

The countries will also cooperate under a new Third Country Training Programme to deliver capacity-building programmes for South-east Asian countries, including Timor-Leste, which will become Asean’s newest member in October.

Commenting on Singapore and Australia’s mutual and aligned interests, Mr Albanese said: “One of the things that makes this relationship so solid is that we know where we’re coming from, and we know where we’re going together.”

He noted that both countries have a common world view on the importance of multilateralism, free and fair trade, as well as multilateral institutions such as Asean, which will soon convene in Kuala Lumpur, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which will soon meet in South Korea.

He also congratulated Singapore on

the launch of the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership

in September, which brought together 14 countries in a bloc to boost trading links, but stopped short of saying Australia would participate in it.

At the joint press conference, PM Wong was also asked about

deaths linked to an outage at Australian telco Optus,

which is wholly owned by Singtel.

He offered his condolences and reiterated the Singapore Government’s stance that companies overseas are expected to act responsibly and comply with the laws of the country they are in.

“I fully understand the anger, frustration and outrage at what has happened, because if this were to have happened in Singapore, I would feel the same,” he said, expressing hope that the investigation into the outage will be concluded soon, and that steps can be taken expeditiously to rectify the mistakes.

PM Wong is on a six-day introductory visit to both Australia and New Zealand.

He will be in Auckland from Oct 9 to 11, where he will meet New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

The two leaders are expected to announce an upgrading of bilateral ties from the existing Enhanced Partnership signed in 2019 to a CSP.