December 4, 2025
SINGAPORE – Singapore and Malaysia are set to collaborate more in areas like health and the fight against illicit drugs, as their leaders meet for their annual retreat.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will visit Singapore on Dec 4 for the 12th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat at the invitation of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Dec 3.
The retreat is a key platform for both leaders to take stock of growing bilateral cooperation, explore new avenues of collaboration, and provide guidance on how to take the relationship forward, it added.
PM Wong will host Datuk Seri Anwar to lunch, following which their delegations will meet. The retreat will be held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel.
They will then witness the exchange of agreements, which will “broaden bilateral cooperation and increase the exchanges between both sides”, MFA said.
Both men are also the finance ministers of their governments.
Mr Anwar will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Fadillah Yusof, Premier of Sarawak Abang Zohari Openg, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan, Minister of Transport Anthony Loke, Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Acting Minister of Economy and Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan and Chief Minister of Johor Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
The Singapore delegation will include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
They will be joined by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim and Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow.
This is the second annual retreat PM Wong and Mr Anwar have attended as heads of government.
The previous retreat was held on Jan 6 and 7 in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital, where the pair witnessed the exchange of an agreement on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, and pledged to collaborate in areas like education, energy and shared heritage.
PM Wong said then that progress had been made on the complex issues between the two countries, but both sides needed more time to resolve them.
Outstanding issues include airspace, water and the delimitation of maritime boundaries.
Mr Anwar said the final settlement of these issues should be a “win-win sort of position”.
The 11th retreat was meant to be held in December 2024, but was postponed to January 2025 after PM Wong contracted Covid-19.