Singapore has good relations with the countries of Europe and with the European Union. There is a steady stream of visits by Leaders, Ministers, MPs and Officials on both sides. Through a network of resident Embassies, non-resident Ambassadors and Honorary Consuls-General, Singapore maintains its links with most European countries. In recent years, Singapore has also looked into deepening our relations with the Central and Eastern European countries. Singapore also engages Europe through the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process, which was first initiated in 1996.

Singapore, as ASEAN Chair, also hosted the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit (AECS) on 22 November 2007. The AECS was held back-to-back with the ASEAN Summit and marked the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations.

A key pillar of Singapore's relations with Europe has traditionally been economic cooperation. Singapore acts as the hub for European business in the Asia-Pacific region. The German Centre for Industry and Trade, the German-Singapore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Singapore-British Business Council and the France-Singapore Business Council have been established to help European small and medium enterprises start-up their operations in Singapore and the region. There are more than 7,000 European companies in Singapore. Many use Singapore as regional headquarters, logistics and distribution centre for the region. European foreign investment in Singapore is strong. Collectively, the EU is Singapore's second largest foreign investor, after Malaysia. Bilateral trade in 2007 totalled $97.5 billion, an increase of 6.8% from 2006.

As long standing partners, Singapore and Europe have also engaged in numerous other areas of collaboration, including arts and culture, research & development, education, health, technical cooperation in third countries, as well as in fields of mutual interest, such as security issues, energy and climate change. For instance, “Encore! The European Season” which showcases numerous arts and cultural events will run from May to December 2008 in Singapore. Separately, as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Singapore and Russia, a cultural-business extravaganza Spotlight Singapore in Moscow was held in Moscow in June 2008 with a range of programmes spanning the arts and business. 

In addition, the European community in Singapore are well-integrated into the community and their many contributions add to the cosmopolitan nature of the country. Singapore also plays host to organisations such as the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEM’s only permanent institution), the Goethe-Institut, Italian Cultural Institute, Alliance Française de Singapour and the British Council. 

Recent Bilateral Highlights

Incoming Visits

2008

• Dr László Sólyom, President, Republic of Hungary, May 2008
• HSH Prince Albert II, Principality of Monaco, April 2008
• Ms Tarja Halonen, President,  Republic of Finland, February 2008

• Ms Viviane Reding, Commissioner of Information, Society and Media, European Commission, June 2008
• Mrs Valérie Pécresse, Minister of Higher Education and Research, French Republic, June 2008
• Mr Karel de Gucht, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kingdom of Belgium, June 2008
• Mr Hervé Morin, Minister of Defence, French Republic, May to June 2008
• Mr Christian Schmidt, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Defence, Federal Republic of Germany, May to  June 2008
• Mr Oleksandr Kupchyshyn, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ukraine, May 2008
• Mr Sergey Naryshkin, Deputy Prime Minister, Russian Federation, March to April 2008
• Dr Martin Bartenstein, Federal Minister for Economics and Labour, Republic of Austria, March 2008
• Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany, February 2008.
• Mrs Meritxell Mateu Pi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Principality of Andorra, February 2008

• Mr Mikhail Margelov, Chairman, Committee for Foreign Affairs, Federal Council of Russia, March to April 2008 and May 2008
• Mr Jean-François Copé, leader of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) Parliamentary group in the National Assembly, former Minister of  Budget and State Reform, French Republic, March 2008
• Dr Norman Lammert, President of Bundestag (Parliament), Federal Republic of Germany, January 2008
• Mr Ruprecht Polenz, Chairman of the Bundestag’s (Parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee, Federal Republic of Germany, January 2008

2007

• Mr José Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission, November 2007
• Mr José Sócrates, Prime Minister, Portuguese Republic, November 2007

• Dr Luís Amado, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portuguese Republic, November 2007
• HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, United Kingdom, August 2007
• Mr Peter Mandelson, Commissioner for Trade, European Commission, November 2007
• Mr Karel Schwarzenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic, November 2007
• Mr Dzhevet Chakarov, Minister of Environment and Water, Republic of Bulgaria, November 2007
• Dr Andreas Storm, Parliamentary Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Republic of Germany, November 2007
• Mr Gianni Vernetti, Deputy Foreign Minister, Republic of Italy, October 2007
• Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, June and November 2007
• Dr Franz Josef Jung, Minister of Defence, Federal Republic of Germany, June 2007
• Dr Artis Pabriks,  Foreign Minister, Republic of Latvia, June 2007
• Dr. Kim Howells, Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom, April 2007
• Mr Adam Ingram, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, United Kingdom, June 2007
• Senator Giovanni Lorenzo Forcieri, Deputy Minister for Defence, Republic of Italy, May 2007
• Mr Jonas Gahr Støre, Foreign Minister, Kingdom of Norway, April 2007
• Mr German Gref, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Russian Federation, March 2007
• Mr János Áder, Deputy Speaker, Republic of Hungary, March 2007
• Mr Jeannot Krecké, Minister for Economic Affairs and Foreign Trade, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, January 2007
• Mr Per Stig Møller, Foreign Minister, Kingdom of Denmark, January 2007

• Mr Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister and Middle East Quartet Special Representative, United Kindom, November 2007
• Mr Péter Medgyessy, Former Prime Minister, Republic of Hungary, November 2007

• Mr Roberto Formigoni, President of the Lombardy Region, Republic of Italy,  November 2007
• Ms Diana Štrofová, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovak Republic, November 2007
• Ms Christa Kranzl, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transport Innovation and Technology, Republic of Austria, November 2007
• Mr Horatiu Razvan Radu, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romania, November 2007
• Mr Victor Kress, Governor of Tomsk Region, Russian Federation, July 2007
• Mr Ole von Buest, First Mayor of Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany, May 2007
• Dr Edmund Stoiber, Minister-President of Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany, March 2007
• Mr Christian Poncelet, President of the French Senate, French Republic, March 2007

Outgoing Visits

2008

• Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong visited the French Republic and the Swiss Confederation in January 2008
• Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew visited Russia in June 2008

• Minister of State (Defence) Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee visited the United Kingdom in July 2008
• Minister (National Development) Mr Mah Bow Tan visited the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Sweden in June 2008
• Minister (Information, Communications and the Arts) Mr Lee Boon Yang visited the Kingdom of  Denmark in June 2008
• MOS (Trade and Industry) Mr Lee Yi Shyan visited Russia in June 2008
• Minister (Education) Dr Ng Eng Hen visited the United Kingdom in May 2008
• SMS (Trade and Industry) Mr S Iswaran visited the Principality of Monaco in May 2008
• Minister (Transport) and 2nd Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr Raymond Lim visited the Kingdom of Spain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Netherlands in April 2008
• Speaker of Parliament Mr Abdullah Tarmugi visited the Republic of Turkey from April to May 2008
• Minister (Defence) Mr Teo Chee Hean visited the French Republic from March to April 2008
• Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr George Yeo visited the Republic of Austria, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in April 2008
• Minister (Defence) Mr Teo Chee Hean visited the Federal Republic of Germany in February 2008

2007

• Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong visited the Swiss Confederation in October 2007
• Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong visited the Republic of Hungary in October 2007
• Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong visited the United Kingdom in October 2007
• Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew visited the French Republic in June 2007
• Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew visited Moscow in June 2007.
• Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew visited the Republic of Italy in May 2007

• SMS (Foreign Affairs) Dr Balaji Sadasivan visited the French Republic in December 2007
• SMS (Foreign Affairs)  Mr Zainul Abidin Rashid visited the French Republic in December 2007
• Minister (Transport) and 2nd Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr Raymond Lim, visited the French Republic in November 2007
• Minister (Education) Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam visited the United Kingdom in November 2007
• MOS (National Development) Ms Grace Fu visited the Federal Republic of Germany in November 2007
• MOS (Transport) Ms Lim Hwee Hua visited the Federal Republic of Germany in November 2007
• MOS (Education) Mr Gan Kim Yong visited the French Republic in October 2007
• MOS (Trade and Industry) Mr S Iswaran visited the Republic of Poland in October 2007
• Minister (Trade and Industry) Mr Lim Hng Kiang visited the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Finland in September 2007 
• Minister (Information, Communications and the Arts) Dr Lee Boon Yang visited the Kingdom of Sweden and the Portuguese Republic in September 2007
• MOS (Education) Mr Lui Tuck Yew visited the Kingdom of Netherlands in September 2007
• Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr George Yeo visited the Portuguese Republic in August 2007
• SMS (Foreign Affairs) Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed visited the Federal Republic of Germany in June 2007
• Minister (Transport) and 2nd Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr Raymond Lim, visited the Swiss Confederation in May 2007
• MOS (Trade and Industry) Mr S. Iswaran visited the Republic of Italy in May 2007
• Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr George Yeo visited the Federal Republic of Germany in March and May 2007
• Minister (National Development) Mr Mah Bow Tan visited the Kingdom of Spain in March 2007
• Minister (Foreign Affairs) Mr George Yeo visited the French Republic and the Swiss Confederation in January 2007
• Minister (Information, Communications and the Arts) Dr Lee Boon Yang visited the Swiss Confederation in January 2007
• Minister (Trade and Industry) Mr Lim Hng Kiang visited the French Republic in January 2007
• Minister (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan visited the Swiss Confederation in January 2007