PM Lawrence Wong at the Official Dinner Hosted in Honour of the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Friedrich Merz (Oct 2026)

Your Excellency Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening, Guten Abend, and a very warm welcome to Chancellor Merz and your delegation. It is very good to see a good representation of business leaders on both sides and I hope you treat this dinner as an informal gathering of friends, where we can both get to know one another better, and forge new friendships and partnerships.

I have a special reason to remember Germany fondly. In 2015, I travelled to Bonn, then as Singapore’s Minister for Culture, to attend the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting. It was there that the Singapore Botanic Gardens was inscribed as Singapore’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was a proud moment for Singapore, especially as we were celebrating our 50th anniversary of independence. So, Germany has a special place in Singapore's heritage story. And I am glad that, more than a decade later, we are continuing to write new chapters in our relationship.

Germany was also among the first countries to recognise Singapore’s independence. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt made the first visit by a German Chancellor in 1978, and every successive Chancellor has visited Singapore since. Chancellor Schmidt forged a close friendship with our founding leader, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and that tradition has also continued to be passed down to every successive German Chancellor and Singaporean Prime Minister, and long may that continue.

I was very happy to visit Berlin in 2024. Shortly after, I became Prime Minister. Later that year, we elevated our ties to a Strategic Partnership, reflecting the growing convergence of our interests.

We have since made good progress in translating this partnership into concrete cooperation. Earlier this year, we launched the Singapore-Germany Year of Innovation to bring our innovation ecosystems closer together. And this morning, we issued a Joint Declaration on our Strategic Partnership and endorsed a new Joint Work Plan, which will keep our cooperation dynamic and forward-looking.

Germany and Singapore may seem like very different countries. But we share a conviction that our future depends on our ability to build for the future through the ingenuity, enterprise, and the skills of our people.

Germany is renowned for its engineering excellence and industrial craftsmanship. The phrase Made in Germany is recognised around the world as a mark of quality and reliability. And these strengths remain relevant and vital in the digital age.

Singapore, for our part, offers a highly connected and trusted base in Asia, with an agile ecosystem where new ideas can be developed, tested and scaled. So together, we can combine our complementary strengths, to open up new possibilities — in industrial AI, advanced manufacturing, biomedical sciences and other emerging fields, which we had very good discussions on this morning.

Our defence relationship is another important pillar of cooperation. From Leopard tanks to submarines, and Offshore Patrol Vessels, German engineering has become an important part of Singapore’s defence capabilities.

But what matters even more than the equipment is the trust behind it. The SAF values the opportunity to train in Germany. And now we are expanding our cooperation in new areas like defence technology, cybersecurity, space, and supply chain resilience.

All these close cooperation does not happen overnight. They reflect decades of mutual confidence, trust, and a shared commitment to each other’s security.

And our partnership matters beyond our bilateral ties.

Because we have both benefited enormously from an open and connected world. We know from experience that cooperation and trade are not zero-sum propositions.

And we both share an interest in keeping our respective regions open, strengthening a rules-based global order, and showing that cooperation remains possible, even necessary, in a divided world.

So Singapore welcomes Germany’s deeper engagement with ASEAN, including its recent elevation to an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner.

And next year, when ASEAN and the EU marks 50 years of dialogue relations, during Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship, we will work with Germany to bring our two regions closer together.

At a time when others are putting up walls, we want to build more bridges – between our economies, our businesses and our peoples.

Ultimately, what gives these bridges meaning are the connections between our people. And these can be found, not just in business, education and culture, but sometimes in more unexpected places.

This evening, we are serving German Riesling alongside Singaporean chili crab. It may not be the most obvious food combination. But the freshness and acidity of the Riesling goes remarkable well with the rich, spicy flavours of the chili crab.

Perhaps there is a lesson here about our two countries. We do not have to be alike to work well together. Indeed, our differences can be a source of strength. Germany brings its own traditions, capabilities and perspectives. Singapore brings ours. And when we come together, we discover new possibilities that neither of us would have imagined on our own. That is what true partnership is about.

So I look forward to working closely with you, Chancellor Merz – not only to deepen our bilateral ties, but also to strengthen the connections between Europe and Southeast Asia, and to help shape a more open, stable and prosperous world.

So Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, may I now invite you to stand and join me in a toast to: The good health and success of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his delegation; and the enduring friendship between Singapore and Germany, and our two peoples.

Cheers!