Antony J. Blinken 71st U.S. Secretary of State | Official Website
For nearly 60 years, the United States and Singapore have maintained a comprehensive relationship founded on mutual economic interests, security cooperation, and strong people-to-people ties. Both nations collaborate to support the rules-based economic and security order in the Indo-Pacific region and address global threats such as terrorism, transnational crime, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The countries are closely linked with over 30,000 U.S. citizens residing in Singapore and almost 40,000 Singaporeans living in the United States. Additionally, approximately 4,500 Singaporeans study in the U.S., while over 1,400 U.S. citizens study in Singapore each year.
Singapore is a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific as a founding member of ASEAN and an advocate for a stable international system. The two countries cooperate on various issues including defense, climate change, health security, technology, cybersecurity, and regional capacity building.
One significant initiative is the U.S.-Singapore Third Country Training Program (TCTP), established in 2012 to provide technical assistance to ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, and Pacific Islands. Since its inception, TCTP has organized over 75 courses training more than 2,000 government officials on topics like trade, intellectual property rights, environment management, health systems, urban planning, disaster management, and cybersecurity.
Recent mechanisms enhancing bilateral cooperation include the Critical and Emerging Technology Dialogue (CET) launched in October 2023 focusing on artificial intelligence and digital economy among others. The U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation initiated in 2021 aims to achieve commercial outcomes across sectors such as clean energy and advanced manufacturing. Additionally, both nations started the U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership to promote high-quality climate standards.
In collaboration with Enterprise Singapore (ESG), a statutory board under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the U.S. has also launched initiatives like the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership Business Innovation Fund 2.0 targeting small ASEAN entities working on sustainable solutions for urban challenges.
Economically significant is their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) effective since 2004—making it the first U.S. FTA with an Asian country—resulting in substantial trade relations where bilateral goods and services trade surpassed $122 billion in 2022. The United States stands as Singapore's largest foreign investor with about $309 billion in direct investments.
Security cooperation encompasses border security to counterterrorism efforts reinforced by agreements such as the renewed Memorandum of Understanding from 1990 regarding U.S. use of facilities in Singapore and enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement from 2015. Joint military operations include Operation Prosperity Guardian under Combined Task Force 153: Red Sea Maritime Security.
People-to-people exchanges are facilitated through educational programs like Fulbright exchanges involving school principals from both nations discussing education strategies biannually. There are more than 100 university exchange programs between them.
U.S assistance includes programs like Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) active since 2003 providing over $2.5 million for technical exchanges aimed at enforcing export controls and promoting strategic trade controls regionally.
Both countries are members of several international organizations including United Nations (UN), APEC Secretariat based in Singapore facilitating economic cooperation during events like U.S.'s APEC host year in 2023.
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