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Singapore - US Relations

The United States recognized Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965 and has had formal diplomatic relations with Singapore since 1966. Singapore's efforts to maintain economic growth and political stability and its support for regional cooperation harmonize with U.S. policy in the region and form a solid basis for amicable relations between the two countries. Singapore remains a "partner" rather than an "ally," but the bottom line is that the relationship is excellent. Military cooperation is vigorous, as it has been since the United States accepted Singapore's offer of access to Singaporean facilities in order to enable the United States to maintain an effective regional presence after the former U.S. bases in the Philippines were closed.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan During the Committee of Supply Debate 01 March 2021 stated: "We have a longstanding and strong relationship with the United States of America. Our cooperation is multi-faceted and includes vital areas like defence, security, economic relations, cybersecurity, people-to-people, and education. As the digital economy grows, we should all remember that the US is home to a vast pool of innovation, technology, and talent that they harvest from all over the world. Its companies in Silicon Valley and beyond are global champions. It remains at the forefront of developments in science and technology. American companies like Pfizer and Moderna have been trailblazers on vaccines and on treatments. American innovation and enterprise remain key engines for global growth. American companies will continue to lead the digital revolution. This is why I never count the Americans out. The cumulative stock of US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Southeast Asia stands at more than US$338 billion. The exact number is not so important. What is more important is that this sum is more than what the US has invested in India, Japan, South Korea, and China combined. Stop for a moment to think about that. The US is more invested in Southeast Asia than India, China, Japan, and South Korea combined. Every time I met President Trump, I reminded him of this statistic. And there is another factor: approximately 85% of the US’ total investments in Southeast Asia are in Singapore – which creates many good jobs here. You would understand why our relationship with the US remains crucial. And the US military presence has underpinned peace and stability in our region for over half a century." Singapore lies at the center of Asia in ways that matter to the United States. In 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles first arrived in Singapore, he was struck by the very factor that makes Singapore unique to this day: its strategic location at the southern end of the Straits of Malacca, the main maritime trade route between China and India. Over the years, Singapore has built on this geographic advantage -- plus governmental, educational, logistical, financial, and other institutions designed to exploit the advantage -- to turn Singapore into one of the most reliable and efficient places in the world to move people, goods, and money.

This is what makes Singapore so critical to the United States from a political-military perspective. When the former U.S. bases in the Philippines were closed in the 1990s, Singapore stepped in, making its facilities available to the U.S. military. Under the U.S.-Singapore Strategic Framework Agreement of 2005, the United States makes use of Singapore's facilities at Sembawang to provide logistics and repair services for the whole Western Pacific Fleet. At Changi Naval Base, U.S. aircraft carriers can and do routinely pull up pierside, something that is not feasible elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The United States uses Singapore's Paya Lebar Air Base to move aircraft all around the region. Singapore procures advanced weapons systems from the United States and deploys about 1,000 personnel in the United States to train, particularly in the use of U.S.-produced aircraft and helicopters.

The US bilateral relationship with Singapore continues to strengthen and broaden. Singapore armed forces comprise a small, but extremely capable military. Their main focus continues to be security within the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Strait and they cooperate with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in conducting security patrols within the Straits against piracy and other illicit activities. Singapore’s armed forces also deployed to Afghanistan, working alongside coalition partners to develop the Afghan National Security Forces. Within the context of the 2005 Strategic Framework Agreement, both militaries are seeking to increase engagement across all USPACOM service components. Singapore’s offer to host U.S. Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) at Changi naval station will enhance USPACOM’s SEA posture.

In early 2012, the United States and Singapore held the first meeting of their Strategic Partnership Dialogue, followed by a ministerial meeting that introduced new mechanisms to further strengthen partnership and cooperation for the benefit of the Asia-Pacific region, including the Third Country Training Program (TCTP), a joint technical assistance program for developing countries. The first TCTP projects will focus on training officials in the sub-Mekong region in the areas of environment, health, urban planning, and disaster management.

Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Bilahari Kausikan and United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2012 to co-chair the first United States-Singapore Strategic Partners Dialogue. The dialogue served to enhance further bilateral relations between the United States and Singapore and marked a new development in the countries’ strategic partnership. The co-chairs, in the spirit of equal partnership, mutual respect and desire to promote close cooperation, reviewed an already robust array of initiatives undertaken between the two countries and sought new areas to create and expand cooperation in bilateral, regional, and global matters of joint interest.

There are a large number of Americans living in Singapore, and many Singaporeans visit and study in the United States. The U.S. Government sponsors visitors from Singapore each year under the International Visitor Program; provides Fulbright awards to enable selected American professors to teach or conduct research at the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies; awards scholarships to outstanding Singaporean students for graduate studies at American universities and to American students to study in Singapore; and sponsors occasional cultural presentations in Singapore. The East-West Center and private American organizations, such as the Asia and Ford Foundations, also sponsor exchanges involving Singaporeans.

The EXBS program has been active in Singapore since 2003 and has provided over $2 million in technical exchanges and assistance. EXBS’ goals in Singapore are to encourage active targeting and enforcement of export controls, full compliance with the four multilateral export control regimes, cooperation on counter-proliferation prosecution and investigation matters. EXBS assistance for Singapore in 2012 totaled $250,000. Singapore is expected to graduate from the EXBS program in 2015.

The United States has a bilateral free trade agreement with Singapore. The two countries participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations that seek to develop a regional trade agreement. The United States is one of Singapore's largest foreign investors, with over 1,500 U.S. firms in operation. Singapore is a visa waiver program country, which allows its nationals to travel to the United States for certain business or tourism purposes for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

Singapore's strengths as an economic clearinghouse for goods and financial services have made it a valuable economic partner for the United States. US corporations understand this; there are an estimated 1,500 US companies here. The stock of U.S. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Singapore is massive, exceeding the $100 billion level, well above the levels of U.S. FDI in giant economies such as China and Japan. Singapore is a long-time master of the game ofatracting international FDI and the tough intellectual property rights (IPR) protections that Singapore agreed to in the 2004 U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement have made Singapore even more attractive as a destination for FDI, especially in IPR-sensitive industries such as the pharmaceutical sector. On the trade side, Singapore is the 12th largest US export market and the US enjoys one of the largest trade surpluses in the world with Singapore. Singapore's trade-dependent economy took a hard hit from the global economic downturn, but bounced back quickly.

Singapore's agreed in Decembe 2015 to host a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft for the United States marked a step forward in a decades-old alliance between the two countries, analysts say. The aircraft deployed from Singapore for the first time between December 7 and December 14, 2015. The United States also uses bases in Japan and the Philippines to conduct surveillance flights in the region. The expansion in Singapore provides another location for flights at a time of rising tensions over the disputed South China Sea.