Singapore’s Foreign Minister Says Taiwan Has Replaced China as His Country’s Biggest Trading Partner, and Credits AI and Semiconductors

Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in a conversation at the Milken Institute’s Asia Summit in Singapore on October 7, 2026 that Taiwan was his country’s biggest trading partner last year, crediting artificial intelligence and semiconductors for the shift. He stated: “The biggest trading partner last year for Singapore was Taiwan. Right. So what’s going on? I think clearly AI technology, semiconductors, technology has a big part to it.”

Official figures back him up. Singapore’s goods trade with Taiwan reached S$170.3 billion in 2025, ahead of S$162.9 billion with mainland China, according to merchandise trade figures by partner published by Singapore’s Department of Statistics.

Why AI Watchers Should Pay Attention to This Trade Claim

For AI watchers, the claim signals where hardware is moving. Singapore’s large share of activity runs through cross-border trade. When a minister from such an economy says its largest trading relationship has shifted toward a semiconductor manufacturing hub, he describes the direction of physical flows in the chip supply chain.

Singapore’s goods trade at a glance

What Singapore Wants From Its ASEAN Chairmanship

Balakrishnan made the remarks while laying out Singapore’s goals for its turn chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Channel NewsAsia reported that Singapore will push for deeper integration and wider partnerships as bloc chair in 2027. Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, covered the same remarks as Channel NewsAsia, framing Singapore as the incoming 2027 Chair.

Balakrishnan said success would mean member economies continuing to grow and integrate, with their respective strengths, “say in energy, in technology,” combining in a complementary way “where the whole is more than the sum of the parts,” at which point “we would have succeeded.”

Rafting Together Against High Waves

His reasoning centers on defense. Balakrishnan described it: “If we’re going through turbulent weather, and because by definition we are small except for Indonesia, the more we can raft our economies together, the better it is to cope with high waves and strong winds.” Integration is a survival tool.

On combined size, Balakrishnan hedged: “If you add up the cumulative nominal GDP of ASEAN, we will be or may already be the fourth largest composite economy in the world. And guess what? We still have great growth potential in the next 20 years.”

He also stated: “We want to be assessed on our own merit, not as an arena for contestation between the superpowers, and not as another arena for proxy wars.” This signals a preference for non-alignment between the United States and China.

Growth Figures From the Segment

Balakrishnan said the region is growing despite the turmoil around it: “In the midst of a crazy world, in the midst of the breakdown in world order, the breakdown in trade, the disruption to supply chains, we’re having significant growth.”

According to the segment, first-half growth figures for this year were:

• Vietnam: 8% plus
• Singapore: 6.1%
• Malaysia and Indonesia: around 5% to 5% plus

A Growth Case That Depends on Unity

Balakrishnan argues Southeast Asia can grow despite global trade fracturing. The region positions itself as neutral ground where supply chains can relocate, and his Taiwan trade claim fits that picture of AI-driven flows shifting through the area.

The argument rests on two conditions: the bloc stays unified and stays out of the superpower contest. Balakrishnan said those are his priorities, though he did not claim they have been secured.