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Gateway to Asia (1967–2026)

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  • 7 September 1967: Indonesia and Singapore establish diplomatic relations, a month after the founding of ASEAN.1
  • 1976: Lee Kuan Yew makes his first official visit to China.2
  • November 1978: Deng Xiaoping pays his only official visit to Singapore. A month later he launches China’s policy of reform and opening.3
  • 1986: The Operational Headquarters incentive offers a concessionary tax rate of 10 per cent for regional services.4
  • 1992: India announces its Look East policy, with Singapore as its sponsor in Southeast Asia. Deng Xiaoping praises Singapore during his Southern Tour.5
  • 24 January 1994: Singapore and India sign their current double taxation agreement.6
  • 26 February 1994: The Suzhou Industrial Park is formally launched under a bilateral agreement.7
  • 17 December 1994: The Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle is formalised by a memorandum of understanding.8
  • 2003: The Economic Development Board introduces the Regional Headquarters and International Headquarters awards.9
  • 29 June 2005: India and Singapore sign the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, India’s first agreement of its kind.10
  • 18 November 2007: China and Singapore sign the framework agreement for the Tianjin Eco-city.11
  • 1 January 2009: The China–Singapore Free Trade Agreement enters into force. Its further upgrade protocol takes effect on 31 December 2024.12
  • December 2011: The Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty is introduced. For foreigners it reaches 60 per cent on 27 April 2023.13
  • 8 February 2013: The Singapore branch of ICBC becomes the renminbi clearing bank.14
  • July 2016 – March 2017: Indonesia’s tax amnesty brings declarations from Singapore of about 56 billion US dollars, the largest share from any country.15
  • 16 January 2017: The India International Exchange in GIFT City begins trading.16
  • 27 February 2017: A third protocol to the India–Singapore tax treaty enters into force. Capital gains on shares acquired from 1 April 2017 become taxable at source.17
  • 2018: Zhang Yong, founder of Haidilao, moves to Singapore. China and Singapore sign the first FTA Upgrade Protocol in November.18
  • 27 April 2020: India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority is established in GIFT City.19
  • 29 April 2021: Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay are linked in the world’s first connection of real-time payment systems.20
  • 25 January 2022: Singapore and Indonesia sign agreements on extradition, defence cooperation and the flight information region in Bintan. They come into force together on 21 March 2024.21
  • 21 February 2023: The link between India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow is launched.22
  • 1 April 2023: China and Singapore upgrade their relations to an “All Round High Quality Future Oriented Partnership”.23
  • 3 July 2023: The SGX Nifty contract moves fully to GIFT City and is renamed GIFT Nifty.24
  • 17 November 2023: The PayNow–DuitNow link between Singapore and Malaysia is launched.25
  • 7 January 2025: Singapore and Malaysia exchange the agreement on the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone at the eleventh Leaders’ Retreat.26
  • September 2025: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visits India, and the two governments adopt a roadmap for their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.27
  • Financial year 2025–26: India receives equity FDI of 58.84 billion US dollars, of which 19.80 billion come from Singapore.28
  • October 2026: The opening of the Johor Bahru–Singapore RTS Link is postponed to February 2027.29

Notes

  1. Wikipedia, “Indonesia–Singapore relations” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.IV. ↩
  2. Wikipedia, “Lee Kuan Yew” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.II. ↩
  3. National Heritage Board, “Factsheet on the Deng Xiaoping Marker”; see Chapter I.II. ↩
  4. See Chapter I.I and the sources cited there. ↩
  5. Wikipedia, “India–Singapore relations”; National Heritage Board, “Factsheet on the Deng Xiaoping Marker”; see Chapters I.II and I.III. ↩
  6. IRAS, Agreement between Singapore and India for the Avoidance of Double Taxation; see Chapter I.III. ↩
  7. Wikipedia, “Suzhou Industrial Park” (accessed November 2026); see Chapters I.I and I.II. ↩
  8. Wikipedia, “Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.IV. ↩
  9. The Nation (Bangkok), “How Singapore’s incentives for headquarters”; see Chapter I.I. ↩
  10. Wikipedia, “Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.III. ↩
  11. Wikipedia, “Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.II. ↩
  12. Rajah & Tann Singapore, “Commencement of China-Singapore FTA Further Upgrade Protocol”; see Chapter I.II. ↩
  13. IRAS, “Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty”; see Chapters I.II and I.V. ↩
  14. Wikipedia, “Internationalization of the renminbi” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.II. ↩
  15. “Singapura sumbang repatriasi tax amnesty terbesar”, Kontan, 29 March 2017; see Chapter I.IV. ↩
  16. Wikipedia, “India International Exchange” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.III. ↩
  17. IRAS, “Singapore and India Sign New Protocol”; see Chapter I.III. ↩
  18. Wikipedia, “Zhang Yong (restaurateur)”; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, country page “People’s Republic of China”; see Chapter I.II. ↩
  19. Wikipedia, “International Financial Services Centres Authority” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.III. ↩
  20. Monetary Authority of Singapore, media release of 29 April 2021; see Chapter I.I. ↩
  21. Wikipedia, “Indonesia–Singapore relations”; Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia; see Chapters H.V, I.I and I.IV. ↩
  22. UPI–PayNow linkage, see Chapter I.III. ↩
  23. Prime Minister’s Office, “Joint Announcement”; see Chapters F.IV and I.II. ↩
  24. Wikipedia, “GIFT City” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.III. ↩
  25. Monetary Authority of Singapore, media release “Launch of Cross-border Payment Linkage”; see Chapter I.IV. ↩
  26. Wikipedia, “Iskandar Malaysia”; Allen & Gledhill; see Chapter I.IV. ↩
  27. India Brand Equity Foundation, “India-Singapore Trade”; see Chapter I.III. ↩
  28. India Brand Equity Foundation, “Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)”; see Chapter I.III. ↩
  29. Wikipedia, “Malaysia–Singapore relations” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter I.IV. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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