Singapore and Germany write industrial AI into upgraded partnership plan

Singapore and Germany are pulling industrial artificial intelligence deeper into their economic relationship, rewriting a five-pillar cooperation blueprint that already covers security, trade and energy. Lawrence Wong and Friedrich Merz set out the shift at a joint press conference in Parliament House on Tuesday (Oct 27).

The pairing sits on a strategic partnership both governments raised in November 2024. Among EU members, Germany is Singapore's biggest goods trading partner and third for services. Merz's two-day official stop is his first since winning the chancellery in 2025.

Industrial AI is the label both sides use for machine learning, computer vision and autonomous systems embedded in physical operations - factory floors, power networks, logistics chains. Wong cited the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement concluded in 2025 as scaffolding for cross-border digital transactions, saying the two countries now want to go beyond it. Merz argued that a large slice of German commerce passes through this region, and that Berlin wants a voice in the technological shifts reshaping it.

The commercial angle is skills and supply chains. Wong said Singapore companies, including smaller firms with decades of German partnerships behind them, stand to gain from teaming up with Mittelstand manufacturers, plus follow-on hiring and training for local workers. A "year of innovation" launched in February already leans on AI, quantum, microelectronics and biotechnology; Wong added appetite for joint work in advanced manufacturing, green technology, semiconductors and space. He conceded too that AI carries risks, and that deployment should stay safe, trusted and human-centred.

Trade rules framed the rest of the discussion. Asked about the CPTPP, the 12-economy Pacific pact, Merz said Germany has long sought closer links with its members and wants allies defending open commerce and a rules-based order, warning that global trade is contracting. Wong called the two nations natural partners there, arguing that economies big and small gain when commitments are honoured and disputes settled peacefully.

Why it matters for Singapore: The city-state has staked its AI strategy on adoption inside real industries rather than lab prestige, so a German channel into factory-floor and energy-system deployment hands local firms a route to scale. Pairing SMEs with Mittelstand engineering also feeds the skills and jobs agenda underpinning national AI policy. With the EU digital trade deal as a base, deeper industrial AI ties sharpen Singapore's pitch as a trusted node between European and Asian markets.