Singapore Seeks Deeper Economic and Strategic Ties with Kazakhstan

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong concluded a three-day official visit to Kazakhstan in late August, meeting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, and senior business leaders. In a wrap-up interview on Aug 27, Lee described the bilateral relationship as “an account well worth cultivating” and highlighted Singapore’s interest in expanding trade, investment, and connectivity. Tokayev conferred Kazakhstan’s Order of Dostyk, First Class, on Lee on Aug 26.

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Diplomatic ties were established in 1993, building on a 1991 visit by Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. Kazakhstan remains Singapore’s largest trading partner in Central Asia.

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• Bilateral trade in goods: $326.6 million; trade in services: $159 million.

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• Singapore’s direct investment stock in Kazakhstan: $2.1 billion across 158 affiliates.

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• The Middle Corridor moved about 4.5 million tonnes of goods in 2024, a 62 % increase from the previous year (OECD).

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Lee emphasized three priority areas:

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1. Connectivity – He noted that Kazakh businesses see the lack of direct flights between Singapore and Astana or Almaty as a barrier and urged Singapore Airlines to assess a business case.

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2. Logistics and the Middle Corridor – Lee suggested that Singapore firms such as PSA International could contribute logistics, transportation-management, and IT expertise.

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3. Strategic Alignment – Lee argued that cooperation supports a “rules-based international system” rather than “might-is-right” arrangements.

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Kazakh Water-Resources Minister Nurzhigitov outlined a study-visit programme for Kazakh officials to learn from Singapore’s water-management experience, citing glacier melt and declining Caspian Sea levels as challenges.

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• “For building the analytical model of air connectivity, around 170 airline reports and a dataset covering 200 million flights over the past five years were processed,” — Rakhman Asambayev, echelon alpha founder

Kazakhstan Expands Air Connectivity as New Routes, Digital Border Controls Reshape Travel

• “The terminal enables citizens aged 16 and over to cross the state border without contact and without having to approach a border service officer. Passport and facial biometric verification takes 15 seconds, increasing checkpoint capacity sixfold without expanding its physical infrastructure,” — Duman Sembayev, special systems CEO

Kazakhstan Expands Air Connectivity as New Routes, Digital Border Controls Reshape Travel

• Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) accession – Lee indicated that Kazakhstan is pursuing ASEAN-wide TAC membership, a prerequisite for formal partnerships.

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• ASEAN chairmanship 2027 – Singapore will assume the ASEAN chair in 2027 and plans to create additional avenues for ASEAN to engage Central Asian partners, leveraging the Singapore-Kazakhstan agreements on digital integration of the Middle Corridor and water-resource cooperation.

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• Digital and water-sector collaborations – The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources will pilot joint studies on flood management, water reclamation, and smart-metering, while a separate SCE-Middle Corridor partnership will explore trade-documentation and multimodal-logistics digitalisation.

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These initiatives aim to translate the goodwill expressed during Lee’s visit into concrete projects that deepen economic interdependence and enhance regional connectivity across Southeast and Central Asia.

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