DPM Wong makes first working visit to US, will meet key Biden officials
SINGAPORE’S Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is making his first working visit to the United States from Thursday (Oct 5), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has said.
“The visit will build on the robust and multi-faceted relationship between Singapore and the United States,” it added.
Wong, who is also Minister for Finance, is slated to visit Arizona, New York and Washington DC, and then return to Singapore on Oct 15.
Arriving first in Arizona, he will visit Peace Carvin II, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s longest-running overseas detachment. It serves as the air force’s F-16 fighter training detachment at Luke Air Force Base.
The following week, Wong will attend the GIC Investment Forum in New York City, after having been newly appointed the sovereign wealth fund’s deputy chairman early this month.
He is also set to launch a new Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) node in the city. Led by Enterprise Singapore, the GIA will support the expansion of Singapore-based tech startups and small and medium-sized enterprises into New York and the wider US market, PMO said.
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In the last leg of his visit, Wong will meet Cabinet secretaries and senior officials from the Biden administration in Washington DC. PMO added that these meetings will discuss ways to further bilateral cooperation in new emerging areas.
Wong is also scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the inaugural US-Singapore Dialogue on Critical and Emerging Technologies and participate in a dialogue at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He will be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Trade and Industry Alvin Tan. Officials from PMO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance will also be on the trip.
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Over the past year, six Cabinet ministers made working visits to the US, with the most recent one by Dr Balakrishnan, who was in Washingtan DC and New York in June.
US officials have also visited the city-state lately; US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin made a working visit in June for the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue.
The US is Singapore’s largest foreign direct investor by country, with an investment stock worth S$421.8 billion in 2022.
Singapore is the largest recipient of US foreign direct investment into Asia; US investment in Singapore is larger than its investment in China, Japan and South Korea combined.
The Republic is the US’ third-largest Asian investor after Japan and South Korea, with investment stock valued at US$57.5 billion last year.
Beyond economic cooperation, Singapore and the US share a long-standing defence relationship.
An agreement was first inked in 1990 that allowed US forces access to Singapore’s military facilities for transit and logistics support. Following that, the two countries sealed several other agreements for closer cooperation, including the 2019 Protocol of Amendment to the 1990 memorandum of understanding (MOU), which extended the original agreement for another 15 years.
Two years ago, during US Vice-President Kamala Harris’ visit to Singapore, the two countries signed three MOUs to expand bilateral cooperation on cybersecurity.
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