Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday during an official visit focused on trade, investment, defense cooperation and regional security.
The meeting took place in Singapore during Fidan’s first visit to the country as foreign minister, according to Singapore’s foreign ministry. Fidan traveled at the invitation of Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Fidan also met with Balakrishnan and K. Shanmugam, Singapore’s home affairs minister and coordinating minister for national security, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The visit comes as Turkey seeks closer economic and diplomatic ties in Southeast Asia, a region that includes major shipping routes and fast-growing markets. Singapore is a city-state at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and one of Asia’s main finance, trade and logistics centers.
Turkey and Singapore established a strategic partnership in 2014. Their free trade agreement, signed in 2015, entered into force in October 2017. The Turkish Foreign Ministry describes it as the most comprehensive free trade agreement Turkey has signed.
Trade between the two countries reached $1.44 billion in 2024, according to Turkish Statistical Institute data published by the foreign ministry. Turkey’s main exports to Singapore include mineral fuels, jewelry, iron and steel products, ships, electrical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Its main imports include medical supplies, machine parts, plastics, optical and technical devices, synthetic rubber and organic chemicals.
Fidan’s talks were also expected to cover Turkey’s ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the 10 member regional bloc that includes Singapore. Turkey has been a sectoral dialogue partner of the bloc since 2017 and has applied for full dialogue partnership status.
Fidan was also scheduled to address the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Raffles Lecture in Singapore, where the think tank said he would speak about Turkey’s foreign policy in a period of global security uncertainty.