FACT SHEET: Strengthening the U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership

The United States and Singapore are enduring strategic partners, and we share a strong tradition of working together to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in Southeast Asia and beyond. Over the past 55 years of diplomatic relations, our two countries have developed deep economic, cultural, and security ties. Thousands of U.S. companies maintain a presence in Singapore, supporting 215,000 American jobs. Approximately 4,000 Singaporean students study in U.S. universities each year, while 41 U.S. universities maintain partnerships with Singaporean counterparts, supporting 110 exchange programs. Singapore provides critical access for U.S. military units deployed to the region, hosting nearly 1,000 service members, civilians, and dependents which support port visits and sorties transiting the country’s military airfields – while Singapore has the second largest military presence in the United States of any foreign partner, with 1,000 Singapore military personnel and dependents stationed across the country.

The Vice President’s travel to Singapore reaffirmed the excellent U.S.-Singapore partnership and broke new ground on a range of key issues, including: addressing climate change and cyber threats, promoting inclusive growth and innovation, promoting growth, innovation, and resilient supply chains, fighting COVID-19 and preparing for the next pandemic, facing common security challenges, and deepening people-to-people ties.

Partnering to Address the Climate Crisis

The United States and Singapore will work together to tackle the climate crisis and increase climate ambition, including by accelerating climate finance, developing high-quality climate standards, and expanding green capacity-building in Southeast Asia.

• Launching the U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership: The United States and Singapore will launch a U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership, through which both countries intend to work together to develop high-quality climate standards and increase regional ambition on sustainable finance, collaborate on financial sector climate and environmental risk management, support climate technology R&D and regional clean energy infrastructure development, improve sustainability of ports and shipping, and mobilize private climate capitol for climate mitigation and adaptation. To launch the Climate Partnership, experts from the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Transportation, and Treasury will undertake bilateral consultations with their counterparts in Singapore to develop standards and a medium-term program of work.

• Expanding Collaboration on Smart Cities: The United States and Singapore commit to expand our efforts promoting smart, sustainable cities through the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership. As buildings represent a significant portion of climate emissions, the United States and Singapore plan to establish a new Green Buildings Program to work with private sector partners on sharing best practices and promoting green building standards throughout ASEAN. The United States and Singapore also plan to co-fund Smart Cities Professional Exchanges bringing ASCN officials to Singapore and the United States to build connections and share expertise on topics such as water, transportation, energy, cybersecurity, and new technologies.  

• Greening the U.S.-Singapore Third Country Training Program (TCTP): The United States and Singapore committed to expanding TCTP to include new courses on climate change and environmental sustainability.

Cybersecurity Cooperation for a New Era

The United States and Singapore finalized three agreements that will expand cybersecurity cooperation with respect to the financial sector, military-to-military engagement, and regional capacity-building.

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Monetary Authority of Singapore finalized a bilateral MOU on Cybersecurity Cooperation, which will help both of our financial sectors be more prepared for and resilient to cyber threats, while also facilitating bilateral information sharing on cyber threats to financial markets.

• The U.S. Department of Defense and the Singapore Ministry of Defense finalized an MOU on Cyber Cooperation, which will support broad defense cooperation to advance cybersecurity information sharing, exchange of threat indicators, combined cyber training and exercises, and other forms of military-to-military cooperation on cyber issues. 

• The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) finalized a bilateral MOU that will enhance information exchange on cyber threats and defensive measures, increase coordination for cyber incident response, and enable cybersecurity capacity building across Southeast Asia. 

Promoting Growth, Innovation, and Resilient Supply Chains

The United States and Singapore will launch new partnerships to enhance growth, innovation, and resilient supply chains.

• Launching a U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation: The U.S. Department of Commerce and Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry are creating a new U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation. The partnership will strengthen U.S.-Singapore trade and investment collaboration starting with four pillars: digital economy; energy and environmental technologies; advanced manufacturing, and healthcare. Through this partnership, the United States and Singapore will address immediate and long-term challenges that face both of our economies, including the need to enhance supply chain resilience.  This partnership is designed to promote inclusive economic growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, and shared prosperity in the United States and Singapore, and throughout the Indo-Pacific. 

• Launching a U.S.-Singapore Dialogue on Supply Chains: The United States and Singapore committed to a high-level dialogue on supply chains. The dialogue will include a panel discussion with American and Singaporean industry leaders, which will be followed by government-to-government discussions on enhancing cooperative efforts to promote greater supply chain resilience. 

Advancing Health Security: Fighting COVID-19 and Preparing for the Next Pandemic

The United States and Singapore will redouble joint efforts to fight COVID-19 and prepare for the next pandemic, with particular emphasis on disease surveillance and clinical research.

• Tracking COVID-19 Variants and Emergent Diseases: The United States and Singapore committed to working together to increase regional preparedness and strengthen Southeast Asia’s collective ability to prevent, detect, and respond to COVID-19 and future health security threats. This partnership will increase the capacity of Southeast Asian countries to identify new COVID variants and provide early warning for and track other emergent diseases through epidemic intelligence and sequencing.

• COVID-19 Research: The United States and Singapore committed to deepening collaborative research on COVID-19 treatments and the prevention of future infectious disease outbreaks. 

Facing Common Security Challenges

The United States and Singapore remain deeply committed to working together to uphold regional peace, security, and stability.

• The United States and Singapore reached agreements that reaffirm the strength of our bilateral Strategic Partnership, the critical importance of our security relationship, and the U.S. enduring commitment to maintaining a robust presence in Southeast Asia, including through rotational deployments of U.S. P-8 aircraft and littoral combat ships to Singapore.

Reinforcing International Norms on the Peaceful Exploration of Space

The United States and Singapore agree on the importance of creating a safe and transparent environment that facilitates space exploration, science and commercial activities for all of humanity to enjoy.

• The United States and Singapore discussed opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation in the field of space, acknowledging the pivotal role international cooperation plays in sustaining the outer space environment. In this regard, the United States and Singapore committed to continuing dialogue to ensure space activities are conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner – recognizing that space provides critical benefits to all of humanity, including in the fight against climate change and ensuring sustainable development on Earth. 

Deepening People-to-People Ties

The U.S.-Singapore relationship is immeasurably strengthened by the growing ties between Americans and Singaporeans, particularly in the field of higher education.

• The United States and Singapore welcomed the launch of an Education USA Advising Center in Singapore. Implemented by the American Chamber of Commerce, the advising center will provide information, workshops, and college counseling services free of charge for students interested in studying in the United States, and in doing so, will deepen people-to-people ties between the next generation of Singaporean and American leaders.

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