Türkiye's Fidan Set for Talks in Singapore

(MENAFN) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will arrive in Singapore on Tuesday for a high-level official visit spanning diplomacy, defense, and bilateral trade — with meetings lined up at the highest levels of the city-state's government, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

Fidan is expected to be received by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and will separately hold talks with his counterpart Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan as well as Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam, who also serves as home affairs minister.

The foreign minister will additionally take the podium at the prestigious IISS Raffles Lecture, a high-profile series organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where he will "outline Türkiye's foreign-policy vision within an increasingly volatile global security environment," according to the think tank.

Trade and investment will feature prominently on Fidan's agenda. Diplomatic sources said he is expected to press for expanded bilateral commerce under the Free Trade Agreement signed in 2015 — one of Türkiye's most comprehensive such pacts, covering not only goods but also services, investment, and public procurement. Total trade between the two nations reached $1.07 billion in 2025, while Singaporean investment in Türkiye has accumulated to approximately $11 billion since 2002, comprising $1 billion in foreign direct investment and $10 billion in portfolio investment.

Defense cooperation is expected to emerge as another focal point. Fidan will underscore that recent regional developments have reinforced the growing strategic value of military collaboration, with sources indicating he will table concrete steps toward deepening Türkiye-Singapore defense industry ties.

Both nations' positions along critical maritime and trade corridors will also frame discussions on connectivity and energy security — areas the sources described as integral to broader regional and global stability. Fidan is further expected to explore cooperation opportunities spanning renewable energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, digitalization, financial technologies, and the halal food industry.

On the multilateral front, the foreign minister will stress the importance of coordinated engagement through international platforms including the UN, the G20, and ASEAN — where Türkiye currently holds Sectoral Dialogue Partner status. Sources indicated Fidan will push to upgrade that relationship to full Dialogue Partnership in the near term.

The two countries' bilateral relationship, anchored by a strategic partnership framework established in 2014, has developed steadily in the years since. The Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2015, entered into force in 2017.

Wide-ranging geopolitical issues are also on the table. Fidan is expected to exchange views with his Singaporean counterparts on the Russia-Ukraine war, the Palestinian issue, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, Syria, the South China Sea, and other pressing regional and global developments.

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