Singapore’s Lawrence Wong seeks stronger ties with Japan amid global tensions

Both leaders are likely to tread cautiously in discussions to avoid antagonising any superpower, analysts say.

The three-day trip, which began on Tuesday, marks Wong’s first official visit to Japan since he became Singapore’s prime minister in May 2024.

In an opinion piece published in Nikkei on Tuesday, Wong said both nations could strengthen their “already robust” economic ties and explore collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Singapore and Japan’s existing partnership provided “firm foundations for navigating this changed world”, which Wong described as one “marked by intense uncertainty, fragmentation and disruption”.

“As like-minded countries with a shared commitment to free trade and rules-based multilateralism, there is much more that we can do together,” he said.