ABU DHABI: The UAE and Singapore have launched negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan hosted Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
The talks, held during Wong’s official visit to the UAE, also produced memoranda of understanding on energy, water and disease vector control. The two leaders said the CEPA would expand market access and boost investment flows between two economies that serve as commercial gateways to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The UAE is Singapore’s largest trading partner and investment destination in the Middle East and North Africa. Non-oil bilateral trade reached about $6.5 billion in 2025, up 25 percent from 2024.
The leaders welcomed Singaporean state investor Temasek’s plan to open an office in Abu Dhabi, and agreed to convene the fourth Singapore-UAE Joint Committee to review the Comprehensive Partnership set up during Sheikh Mohamed’s visit to Singapore in 2019. New areas under consideration include trade and investment, energy, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, space, security and nuclear technology.
The meeting follows last year’s 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the 17th Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum, held in Singapore on 28 September. That forum, co-chaired by Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, and Singapore’s Dr Tan See Leng, saw MoUs signed and renewed on investment, capacity-building and industrial development.
Energy and water
A new Joint Energy Taskforce under the forum will explore cooperation across the energy value chain, including trading, infrastructure and downstream activities. Both sides also noted ongoing nuclear energy cooperation involving the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC).
On water, the leaders pointed to Singapore’s experience in desalination, water reclamation and integrated water management, and to the UAE’s growing innovation and investment base. They backed the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative and commended preparations for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, which the UAE and Senegal will co-host in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 10 December. Food security and resilient supply chains were also on the agenda.
Digital trade and regional ties
The two sides reported substantive progress on the UAE’s accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, with Singapore chairing the UAE’s Accession Working Group. As founding members of the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, they reaffirmed support for an open, rules-based trading system.
They also looked to Singapore’s upcoming ASEAN chairmanship and the third ASEAN-GCC Summit to advance talks on an ASEAN-GCC free trade agreement.
On security, the leaders committed to closer defence industry engagement and cooperation on emerging technologies including AI, and highlighted long-standing civil defence ties under which Emirati cadets train in Singapore.
People and culture
Wong thanked Sheikh Mohamed for hosting more than 4,000 Singaporeans, the largest Singaporean community in the region. The leaders welcomed the Asian Civilisations Museum’s loan of 46 artefacts to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean exhibition, and a partnership between National Gallery Singapore and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation on the first Abu Dhabi Festival Children’s Biennale, running from 6 November to 6 December.
Discussing regional developments, the two sides voiced concern over continuing tensions and stressed respect for state sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter. They called for disputes to be settled through dialogue and for navigational rights, including transit passage, to be upheld under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Wong renewed his invitation for Sheikh Mohamed to make a State Visit to Singapore, which the UAE President accepted, with dates to be set later.- With inputs from Agencies
