Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited Timor-Leste from July 2 to 3, 2026, in the first official trip by a Singapore PM to the Southeast Asian nation since it became ASEAN's 11th member in October 2025 [1, 2, 3, 4].
During the visit, President Jose Ramos-Horta awarded Wong the Order of Timor-Leste (Grand Collar), the country’s highest honor, recognizing Singapore’s support for Timor-Leste’s development and ASEAN accession [1, 2, 5]. Wong said, "The award belongs to those who have served here over the years, conducting training, sharing professional knowledge, building capabilities and living and working alongside our Timorese friends in support of nation-building" [5].
Wong met Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a bilateral consultation framework. This mechanism will enable regular consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministries on bilateral, regional, and strategic issues [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Wong highlighted the potential for economic cooperation, saying, "By working together, we can create new business opportunities, support economic diversification, and generate sustainable growth that benefits both our peoples" [7].
Singapore announced plans to open selected sectors and occupations to Timorese workers from 2027 to strengthen people-to-people and economic ties [6, 7, 8, 9]. Singapore is also one of Timor-Leste's largest investors, with companies exploring opportunities in wholesale trade, renewable energy, hospitality, infrastructure, and the blue economy [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Wong encouraged Singaporean businesses to explore Timor-Leste's diversifying economy, noting, "There are many possibilities, and hopefully with this visit it will spark more interest among Singaporeans, and it will spark more exchanges and interactions between Singaporeans and the Timorese people" [10].
Bilateral relations have grown steadily over the years. Singapore contributed over 1,000 military and medical personnel to the International Force East Timor peacekeeping mission from 1999 to 2012 and helped set up the East Timor Police Service in 2000 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Singapore established a resident embassy in Dili in April 2024 and appointed its first resident ambassador in April 2026 [1, 3, 4].
Singapore has supported Timor-Leste’s ASEAN integration through measures like the Singapore-Timor-Leste ASEAN Readiness Support (STARS) package launched in December 2022 to train Timorese officials [1, 6, 11, 12]. Wong said, "Our next phase is to help Timor-Leste not just benefit but also contribute as an ASEAN member, and they intend to do so because they have aspirations to chair ASEAN in 2029" [11]. As part of this support, Singapore will organize workshops on ASEAN chairmanship duties and offer attachments with Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship team [11, 12].
About 50 to 60 Singaporeans currently reside in Timor-Leste, many running businesses there [1, 10]. Wong’s visit also included attendance at a state banquet hosted by Timor-Leste leaders [1, 2, 5].
Singapore will open more employment sectors to Timorese workers in 2027 and continue cooperation to build Timor-Leste’s institutional capacity and regional engagement [6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12]. Timor-Leste aims to host the ASEAN Summit in 2029 with Singapore’s assistance [6, 11, 12].
