Engagement of the region – Singapore maintains warm relations with the countries in the Maghreb, especially Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Bilateral relations have grown steadily, driven by several high-level visits, that fostered closer political and economic cooperation.
Singapore has diplomatic relations with all the Maghreb countries – we have accredited Non-Resident Ambassadors (NRA) to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia while our Ambassador in Cairo is concurrently accredited to Libya (Note: The position of NRA to Morocco is currently vacant). The Ambassadors of Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia (resident in Jakarta) are concurrently accredited to Singapore.
Singapore is working with the Maghreb countries to promote greater engagement in trade and investments. In July 2023, Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) inaugurated their new Head Office in Cairo to provide services such as ocean/air export and import, import/export customs clearance, project logistics, ground transport and warehousing/distribution. In 2023, Changi Airport International (CAI) signed MOUs with Cairo Airport Company to improve the passenger experience in Cairo International Airport and conducted a feasibility study to establish the Cairo Cargo City.
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) organised business forums to highlight the opportunities in Tunisia and Morocco respectively. The SBF also led a business delegation to Morocco in March 2018. In 2023, Algeria and Egypt participated in the Africa-Singapore Business Forum organised by Enterprise Singapore.
Capacity-building is another area of cooperation. In 2020, the Moroccan International Cooperation Agency (AMCI) and Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a Letter of Intent to conduct courses on capacity building for senior government officials from French-speaking African countries. To date, over 1,000 officials from the Maghreb have participated in various capacity building courses under the Singapore Cooperation Programme.