PM Lawrence Wong said Singapore is keen on furthering areas of cooperation with US President-elect Donald Trump and his team. - ST
JAKARTA: Singapore looks forward to working with US President-elect Donald Trump and hopes for increased bilateral and regional cooperation with Washington, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Speaking to Singapore media just minutes after media reports announced that Trump had secured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the US presidency, PM Wong said Singapore is keen on furthering areas of cooperation with Trump and his team.
“We will look forward to working with them, and the new administration, to strengthen our bilateral ties, and also to strengthen America’s partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said on Nov 6.
PM Wong said Singapore is familiar with Trump, noting how he had visited the Republic during the Trump-Kim Summit in 2018 during his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021.
“We had also, under his (Trump’s) watch, extended our 1990 Memorandum Of Understanding Regarding United States Use of Facilities in Singapore, and we had continued to advance our trade and investment flows between both America and Singapore in a very productive manner,” he said.
PM Wong also wrote congratulatory letters to Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, on Nov 6.
In his letter to Trump, PM Wong congratulated him on his election as the 47th president of the US and wished him good health and success.
“The American people have given you an overwhelming mandate and placed their trust in you to lead the US again. I am confident that under your stewardship, the US will continue to grow and exercise its global leadership role,” he said.
PM Wong similarly wished Vance well, and said that he looks forward to working with both men to further strengthen bilateral cooperation.
When asked what a partnership between Singapore and the US under a Trump administration would look like, PM Wong highlighted how the US is a key partner, not just for Singapore but for all countries in the region. The US is still the largest source of foreign direct investments in South-East Asia.
“So obviously, American companies play a key role in driving economic growth and creating jobs for all the countries in South-East Asia,” he said. “America is still also a very key trading partner, not the largest. China is the largest trading partner, but America is an important trading partner.”
PM Wong noted how Singapore is the only country in Asean with a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, which was inked some 20 years ago. Singapore is the US’ largest trading partner in South-east Asia, and its 18th-largest trading partner overall.
This agreement has proven to be the gold standard in free trade agreements, said PM Wong. The FTA has been mutually beneficial for the US and Singapore, he said, adding how it has created many American jobs and helped to enhance ties between the two nations in a very significant manner.
Such trade and investments support more than 270,000 jobs in the US, and in 2022, bilateral goods and services trade between the two countries surpassed US$122 billion (S$162.3 billion).
Singapore also serves as a gateway to the region for about 6,000 American firms and the US is the largest foreign investor in Singapore, with about US$309 billion in direct investments.
“So whether it’s on trade, whether it’s on investments, or, for that matter, on the security front, where America’s security presence in South-East Asia still remains critical in providing stability for the region, we think these are all very important aspects of America’s presence in South-East Asia,” he said.
“We look forward to working with the new administration to strengthen these areas.” - The Straits Times/ANN
