Posted on September 24, 2025
- Singapore will aid Egypt in digitalising West Port Said, a key port in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, through Singapore Cooperation Enterprise.
- Singapore and Egypt will explore a free trade agreement to leverage complementary strengths and strategic locations, potentially boosting Egypt’s exports.
- President Tharman emphasised Egypt’s stability, strategic position, and coherent vision, highlighting Singapore’s belief in Egypt’s future prosperity.
CAIRO – Singapore companies will assist Egypt to digitalise a port in the Suez Canal, following talks between President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during the Singapore leader’s state visit to the country.
Speaking to the Singapore media on Sept 22 at the end of his four-day trip, President Tharman said the goal is to develop West Port Said into a smart port – “digitisation, management systems, try to replicate, in part, what Singapore has done”, he said.
“They’re very keen on this, and we’re going to be working together on that,” he said.
West Port Said, one of the country’s main ports, occupies 2 sq km and is situated on the northern entrance of the Suez Canal.
President Tharman noted that the Suez Canal Economic Zone – or SCZone – has very significant prospects, with six ports and four industrial zones.
Egypt is keen for Singapore to add investment and expertise to the SCZone, which was established in 2015 and spans 461 sq km.
President Tharman was accompanied on his first state visit to the Middle East and North Africa by a delegation of government officials and members of the business community, who inked a number of new agreements for cooperation with their Egyptian counterparts.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a briefing by the chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Mr Walid Gamal El Din.
Another important development from his discussions with President Sisi is that the two governments will study the feasibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) , President Tharman said.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sept 21 that both presidents agreed such an agreement would take advantage of the two countries’ complementary strengths and their strategic locations.
In his media interview, President Tharman said this has “potentially significant ramifications for the business community”.
“It will send a very strong signal that the regions that we are in can have a lot of complementarity with each other,” he said.
President Tharman said Singapore is not a competitor to Egypt, with the former producing components and intermediates of various forms that can feed into Egypt’s export industries.
“To grow, Egypt will have to export. It’ll have to become an export powerhouse. They believe in that, and we feel we can complement their strategies. The FTA, if it comes about, will be extremely useful,” he added.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam with the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II (left), during a tour at St Mark’s Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo.
During his visit, President Tharman also met Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly; the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb; and the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II.
He said the discussions were meaningful, adding that Singapore believes in Egypt’s future.
“It’s a country that may appear distant from Singapore and in a very troubled region, but we believe in Egypt’s future. It is an oasis of stability in a troubled region.”
President Tharman said Egypt has a unique strategic position, both in the geopolitics of the moment and, very importantly, in the future economic trends.
He also highlighted its location and the fact that it has both the Suez Canal and the Nile River as advantages, as well as its young population.
Said President Tharman: “Very importantly, it has a coherent view of its own future – economically and socially. It’s on a path that will lead to greater unity and prosperity.
“So we believe in Egypt’s future. That’s why I chose to make my first state visit to the Middle East, to Egypt.”
During the trip, President Tharman visited the Egyptian Red Crescent headquarters, becoming the first head of state from any nation to do so.
He said the aid organisation values the relationship with Singapore, and Singapore values the way it helped the Republic take aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
He also noted that a trio of Singapore healthcare professionals had over the last few days been lending their experience and expertise to the Egyptian staff at Nasser Institute Hospital located in Cairo, and advising on some very complex cases involving Palestinian children displaced by the conflict in Gaza.
The team included the first foreign doctors that Egypt has allowed to be deployed to its hospitals.
“When you add it all up, it’s a new level of relationship we’re embarking on. But what’s very important is that we got along well,” said President Tharman.
