Germany–Singapore relations

Germany–Singapore relations

Germany	Singapore

File:Botschaft-singapur-vom-leipziger-platz.JPG

Singaporean Embassy in Berlin

Germany–Singapore relations refers to bilateral relations between the two countries, Singapore and Germany. Singapore has an embassy in Berlin and Germany has an embassy in Singapore.

History

A major impact made by Germany in modern history took place when the SMS Emden raided the South and Southeast Asia region during World War I. The light cruiser had made a daring raid of the British port of Penang soon after the war started, and brought the Malay Peninsula the war. Following the Cold War between the 1970s and 1980s, West Germany chancellor Helmut Schmidt maintained close ties with then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. An orchid hybrid was also named after Mrs Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt when she visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1978.

Bilateral relations

Singapore and Germany began building relations more publicly after the breakup of the communist Soviet Union and the fall of the Iron Curtain that saw the unification of German Democratic Republic and West Germany.

Defence

Germany is a member of the NATO while Singapore remains as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, both of which involve the United Kingdom as a leading member and ally. More recently, the Singapore Army has undergone a major upgrade exercise of the armour arsenal that saw the Ministry of Defence procuring refurbished Leopard 2 tanks as the primary battle tank of armour-related operations since 2008. The Leopard 2 series eventually replaced all the aging French AMX-13 tanks in the 21st century, while bilateral military training exercises are held as recently as 2015 in the Bergen NATO Training Area of Germany.

Trade and investment

As of 2015, leaders of both Germany and Singapore met in Berlin and are still working on a free trade agreement between Singapore and the European Union.

State visits

The late Chancellor of Germany Schmidt continued making informal state visits as recent as 2012 when he met with long-time friend Lee Kuan Yew.

Diplomatic Representations

Germany is represented in Singapore at the Deutsche Botschaft Singapur with ambassador Michael Witter as of 2014, while Singapore is represented in Germany at the Singapore Embassy near Potsdamer Platz by ambassador Jai S Sohan.