Australia and Singapore have commenced discussions on establishing a Singapore-Australia Green and Digital Shipping Corridor by the end of 2025.
Australia’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) are jointly leading the cooperation. They are working with port operators, relevant jurisdictions and maritime and energy value chain stakeholders on both sides to galvanise action to decarbonise and digitalise the shipping industry. Through coordinated efforts, DITRDCA and MPA aim initially to scope areas of mutual interest and collaboration to reduce carbon emissions in the maritime sector.
This includes the establishment of low and zero-carbon fuel supply chains and greening port services and shipping operations to accelerate the development and uptake of green marine fuel sources. Collaboration would also involve the identification of digital shipping solutions to facilitate efficient port call and flow of goods, and paperless handling between the ports of Australia and Singapore.
The move aligns with the Green Shipping Cooperation initiative outlined in the Singapore-Australia Green Economy Agreement in October 2022 signed by Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong, and Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, and witnessed by the Prime Ministers from both sides.
Singapore is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner and investor in Southeast Asia. It is also Australia’s fifth largest trading partner (A$46.8 billion in 2021-22) and fifth largest source of foreign direct investment (A$148 billion in 2022). In 2015, Australia and Singapore established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership including trade and the digital and green economies.