Middle East

Overview

ENGAGEMENT OF THE REGION

Singapore engages the Middle East through high-level exchanges, economic cooperation, and people-to-people linkages. We share best practices in a variety of sectors, including healthcare, governance, culture and the environment.

Economic Links and Cooperation

Singapore companies are active across a broad spectrum of sectors, including infrastructure, oil and gas, environmental technologies, logistics, tourism and retail. Trade between Singapore and the Middle East has grown substantially in recent years, reaching S$57.5 billion in 2019.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (GSFTA), which was signed on 15 December 2008 and which entered into force on 1 September 2013, marked an important milestone. Singapore was the first country outside of the Middle East to conclude an FTA with the GCC.

Elsewhere in the region, tapping Israel's strength in the high-tech sector, the Singapore Israel Industrial Research & Development Foundation has been facilitating and supporting joint industrial R&D projects between companies from both countries.

Technical Cooperation

Singapore shares our developmental experience with Middle East countries through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the work of Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE). Various ministries, statutory boards and private organisations also cooperate with their Middle East counterparts on a wide range of issues. These initiatives include but are not limited to:

• The Strategic Leadership Programme (SLP) held since 2010, most recently in January 2018, by Civil Service College (CSC) for Kuwait’s public sector leaders;
• The Regional Institute of Infrastructure Development that was established at the Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat in 2012 as part of Singapore’s commitment to offer capacity building courses to Oman in infrastructure development, civil aviation, economic development, public administration, information and communication technology;
• Singapore’s Enhanced Technical Assistance Package (ETAP) to support the technical capacity-building efforts of the Palestinian Authority (PA) was launched in 2013, and doubled from S$5 million to S$10 million in 2016. Hundreds of PA officials have benefited from the ETAP;
• Eight customised protocol training programmes for Bahraini protocol officers; and
• Hosting 88 study visits by United Arab Emirates officials since 2014 (as of December 2019).

Academic Engagement and Cooperation

Singapore's schools and tertiary institutions actively engage the Middle East, with an increasing variety of programmes and opportunities available for students to gain a better appreciation and understanding of the region. Examples include but are not limited to:

• University study trips to the Middle East, organised by the National University of Singapore under the Study Trips for Engagement and Enrichment (STEER) programme, and Singapore Management University’s Business Study Mission;
• The NUS Overseas College (NOC) in Israel initiative, which is a successful internship programme that provides postgraduates and undergraduates the opportunity to experience Israel’s unique entrepreneurship culture and dynamic environment of business start-ups;
• The Middle East Institute, which was set up in NUS in 2007 in recognition of the region’s significant role in the world and to promote a deeper understanding of the Middle East in Singapore;
• The Raffles Institution Middle East Programme (at the secondary school level) which helps to generate greater awareness of the region; and
• The S R Nathan Annual Distinguished Lectures, which invites leading decision-makers and thinkers to Singapore to contribute to analyses on the Middle East. Most recently, Professor Olivier Roy of the Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies at the European University Institute delivered the 5^th S R Nathan Distinguished Lecture in November 2018 titled “Conflicts in the Middle East: Where is Religion?”.

MULTILATERAL ENGAGEMENT

Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) - Singapore mooted the idea of establishing an Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) in 2004 as part of our efforts to foster political, economic and cultural engagement between Asia and the Middle East. Singapore hosted the inaugural AMED Ministerial Meeting in 2005, which was attended by leaders from Asia and Middle East. Since then, AMED has produced a number of initiatives including the Regional Training Centres in Jordan and Qatar, which has trained over 900 officials from 42 AMED member countries and 8 African countries.

Recent Highlights