December 4, 2024
SINGAPORE – Singapore and Australia are in discussions to increase access to each other’s military facilities, as part of an ambitious and wide-ranging pact to be signed in 2025.
A stronger defence partnership is a key plank of a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) agreement the two countries want to seal in 2025 when they celebrate 60 years of bilateral ties, with other areas of cooperation being food security, energy and climate change.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Dec 3 that the upcoming agreement between Singapore and Australia is an attempt by both sides to build on a “great track record” of cooperation achieved since the first CSP was signed in 2015.
At a press conference after the 14th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee meeting here, Australia also announced that it would invest US$50 million (S$67.3 million) in a Singapore initiative to finance green projects in Asia.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the two countries share a very close relationship underpinned by deep strategic trust, and that the new CSP will be ambitious in its scope.
“In a difficult world, we understand that this is a moment to double down with friends, and that is the description of Australia and Singapore,” he said. “We are the closest of friends, and we intend to see that reflected in next year’s CSP.”
Mindef said in a statement that both countries are looking at “achieving breakthroughs” such that the new CSP will be comparable to the one signed in 2015.
The 2015 agreement allowed Singapore to send larger numbers of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel annually to Australia for training over a longer period, and put into motion the expansion of and upgrades to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) and the agreement to set up a new training area in Greenvale.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said Australia sees regional stability as integral to its national stability, and wants to add to that through Singapore’s naval bases and airbases.
Calling Australia one of Singapore’s staunchest defence partners, he noted that 2025 also marks the 35th anniversary of SAF training in the SWBTA.
“If the defence relationship outlined by CSP 2.0 is realised, it will result for Singapore that Australia will be one of our closest and most valuable defence partners, and hopefully us to them,” he said.
Mr Marles, who is also Australia’s Defence Minister, said the aim for the new agreement would be for more opportunities for the SAF to train in Australia, and for Australia to boost the presence of its navy and air force in the region by being able to tap the Republic’s military facilities.
Australian naval vessels and aircraft regularly visit Singapore’s bases, either for bilateral and multilateral exercises, transit stops or conducting regular operations to enhance regional security.
Both sides are also looking at deeper defence science cooperation, and to work more closely on military logistics, added Mr Marles. “This is a very significant step forward in what is already a broad and unique relationship.”
During the meeting between the foreign affairs, trade and defence ministers from the two countries, both sides also reaffirmed strong and longstanding bilateral relations, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the US$50 million being invested into Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (Fast-P) initiative, Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said the country wants to be part of the programme to help South-east Asia meet its net-zero ambitions.
Under Fast-P, Singapore has said it will commit up to US$500 million to channel financing towards projects to help the region decarbonise.
Such projects include the early phase-out of coal power plants, the upgrading of electricity grid infrastructure, and industrial decarbonisation efforts that are only marginally bankable.
The Republic’s funding will match, dollar for dollar, concessional capital from partners such as other governments, multilateral development banks and philanthropic institutions with the aim of raising US$5 billion.
Australia’s investment is its first under a A$2 billion (S$1.74 billion) scheme to boost trade and build infrastructure in South-east Asia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Australia’s export credit agency said in a joint statement on Dec 3.
Other green initiatives both countries are looking at include the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.
DPM Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, listed the digital economy, guidelines on the development of artificial intelligence, food security and supply chain resilience as topics that came up during the meeting.
More than just focus areas or a list of bilateral projects, DPM Gan said, the CSP is the vehicle by which Singapore and Australia have over the years built trust and confidence working together, and as such understand each other’s interests and concerns.
Such trust is how the two countries have become partners on multilateral platforms such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he added.
Noting that Australia will chair the CPTPP’s commission in 2025, DPM Gan said Singapore will support its efforts to advance the interests of the trans-Pacific trade pact.
Dr Balakrishnan noted that the new CSP currently under discussion comes as the world is at an inflection point, both of superpower contestation and technological revolutions – in the digital space, in biotechnology, and in renewable energy.
This is precisely why it is an opportunity for good friends to deepen cooperation, he added.
“I’m confident that next year, when our leaders meet, we’ll be able to announce a set of ambitious, future-ready projects, which reflect the depth and breadth of our relationship, based on strategic trust, a proven track record and really aiming for the future,” he said.