Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum advances Singapore–UAE comprehensive partnership with new strategic agreements

The 17th session of the Abu Dhabi–Singapore Joint Forum (ADSJF) was held today in Singapore, co-chaired by Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, and Dr. Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry).

During the session, the Co-Chairs commended the strong bilateral relations and the Comprehensive Partnership between the UAE and Singapore.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to expanding cooperation across strategic priority areas, including investment and economic cooperation, energy, artificial intelligence, space, capacity building and healthcare.

The UAE continues to be Singapore’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, with total non-oil trade of US$6.54 billion in 2025, underscoring the scale of the economic partnership between the two countries.

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak said, “The Abu Dhabi–Singapore Joint Forum continues to serve as an important platform for advancing the longstanding partnership between the UAE and Singapore. This year’s agreements in investment, government capacity-building and industrial development reflect our shared commitment to creating new opportunities for cooperation and advancing our engagement across strategic sectors.”

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Dr. Tan See Leng said, "Singapore and Abu Dhabi share a longstanding and resilient partnership. Our companies continue to find new business opportunities to collaborate in the UAE. The ADSJF provides a valuable platform for us to exchange views on areas of mutual interest, especially in emerging sectors such as AI, the digital economy, and urban infrastructure.”

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the UAE Ministry of Investment and Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, establishes a three-year framework to promote investment, facilitate knowledge exchange, advance joint opportunities, strengthen institutional collaboration, and support capacity-building initiatives.

The MoU on Investment Cooperation was signed by Mohammad Alhawi, Under-Secretary of the UAE Ministry of Investment, and Augustin Lee, Permanent Secretary (Energy and Trade), Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The renewed Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Government Enablement – Abu Dhabi and Singapore’s Civil Service College, strengthened cooperation in government leadership, capability development, executive education and governance.

The partnership will continue advancing knowledge exchange, specialised training programmes, study visits and joint research to build more future-ready government capabilities.

The MoU was signed by Mariam Al Musharrekh, Director-General of Government Talent, DGE, and Han Neng Hsiu, Dean and CEO of Singapore’s Civil Service College.

KEZAD Group, the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation signed a Letter of Intent to develop an industrial corridor between Singapore and Abu Dhabi, supporting stronger trade links, industrial investment and market access.

The collaboration also aims to support Singapore companies in exploring growth opportunities in Abu Dhabi and regional and global markets.

The Letter of Intent was signed by Abdullah Al Hameli, CEO, Economic Cities and Free Zones, AD Ports Group; Shamsher Zaman, Chairman, Middle East Business Group, Singapore Business Federation; and Wayne Yap, Group CEO, Singapore Manufacturing Federation.

KEZAD Group and Witthal Gulf Industries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a framework for cooperation to explore the development of a sustainability hub within KEZAD.

The initiative aims to support sustainable industrial activities, encourage the adoption of clean technologies, and attract companies seeking more efficient and sustainable solutions across manufacturing, logistics and related activities.

The MoU was signed by Abdullah Al Hameli, CEO, Economic Cities and Free Zones, AD Ports Group, and Thirumurthi Naidu Nalappa, Director of Project Development, Singapore Witthal Gulf Industries.

The Forum was also attended by Ambassadors of both countries, Dr. Abdulnasser AlShaali, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, and Kamal R. Vaswani, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the UAE, in addition to senior officials and representatives from key government and private entities in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

For more than 40 years, the UAE and Singapore have proactively fostered a productive and positive bilateral relationship underpinned by active trade and investment links, strong people-to-people ties and strategic cooperation in a range of fields.

The Abu Dhabi–Singapore Joint Forum was established in 2007 as part of a joint commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation and explore new opportunities for collaboration in areas of mutual interest.