FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Singapore is nonaligned. It is a member of the United Nations and several of its specialized and related agencies, and also of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth. Singapore has participated in UN peacekeeping/observer missions in Kuwait, Angola, Namibia, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste. Singapore has deployed naval ships, air force transport planes, and refueling tankers to the Persian Gulf to support the multinational coalition effort to bring stability and security to Iraq. It has also supported a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. Singapore supports the concept of Southeast Asian regionalism and plays an active role in ASEAN and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
U.S.-SINGAPORE
RELATIONS
The United States has maintained formal diplomatic relations with Singapore since it became independent in 1965. Singapore's efforts to maintain economic growth and political stability and its support for regional cooperation harmonize with U.S. policy in the region and form a solid basis for amicable relations between the two countries. The United States and Singapore signed a bilateral free trade agreement on May 6, 2003; the agreement entered into force on January 1, 2004. The growth of U.S. investment in Singapore and the large number of Americans living there enhance opportunities for contact between Singapore and the United States. Many Singaporeans visit and study in the United States. Singapore is a Visa Waiver Program country.
The U.S. Government sponsors visitors from Singapore each year under the International Visitor Program. The U.S. Government provides Fulbright awards to enable selected American professors to teach or conduct research at the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. It awards scholarships to outstanding Singaporean students for graduate studies at American universities and to American students to study in Singapore. The U.S. Government also sponsors occasional cultural presentations in Singapore. The East-West Center and private American organizations, such as the Asia and Ford Foundations, also sponsor exchanges involving Singaporeans.
DEFENSE
Singapore relies primarily on its own defense forces, which are continuously
being modernized. The defense budget accounts for approximately 30% of
government operating expenditures (or 4% of GDP). A career military force of
55,000 is supplemented by 300,000 persons, either on active National Service,
which is compulsory for able-bodied young men, or on Reserve. The Singapore
Armed Forces engage in joint training with Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) countries and with the United States, Australia, New Zealand,
and India. Singapore also conducts military training on Taiwan.
Singapore is a member of the Five-Power Defense Arrangement together with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia. The arrangement obligates members to consult in the event of external threat and provides for stationing Commonwealth forces in Singapore.
Singapore has consistently supported a strong U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1990, the United States and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which allows United States access to Singapore facilities at Paya Lebar Airbase and the Sembawang wharves. Under the MOU, a U.S. Navy logistics unit was established in Singapore in 1992; U.S. fighter aircraft deploy periodically to Singapore for exercises, and a number of U.S. military vessels visit Singapore. The MOU was amended in 1999 to permit U.S. naval vessels to berth at the Changi Naval Base, which was completed in early 2001. In July 2005, the United States and Singapore signed a Strategic Framework Agreement to expand cooperation in defense and security.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Patricia L. Herbold
Deputy Chief of Mission--Daniel L. Shields III
Economic/Political Chief--Ike Reed
Senior Economic Officer--Paul Horowitz
Senior Political Officer--Christopher Kavanagh
Consul--Julie Kavanagh
Public Affairs Counselor--Valerie Fowler
Commercial Counselor--Daniel Thompson
Management Counselor--Karen C. Stanton
Defense Attache--Alan Oshirak
The U.S. Embassy in Singapore is located at 27 Napier Road, Singapore 258508 (tel. 65-6476-9100, fax 65-6476-9340). The Embassy's website is at http://singapore.usembassy.gov.
