Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong to make official visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make official visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from Aug 24 to Aug 31, his first visit to Central Asia, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday (Aug 23).

He will visit Astana and Almaty in Kazakhstan from Aug 24 to Aug 27. In Astana, he will meet Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

He will also meet the country’s two deputy prime ministers, Mr Zhaslan Madiyev and Mr Kanat Bozumbayev.

Mr Lee will be conferred the Order of Dostyk of the First Class Award by Kazakhstan’s president, said PMO in a press release. Former president Halimah Yacob and the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew also received this award.

Mr Lee will also deliver a lecture at Nazarbayev University, where he will be conferred an honorary professorship.

In Almaty, its mayor Darkhan Satybaldy will host Mr Lee for lunch. The senior minister will also meet Singapore and Kazakh business leaders there.

Kazakhstan’s president last visited Singapore in May 2024, and then-President Madam Halimah visited the country in May 2023, in an exchange of state visits.

It is Singapore’s largest trading partner in Central Asia, with bilateral trade in goods amounting to S$326.6 million (US$256.8 million) and bilateral trade in services totalling S$159 million. Cooperation is expanding into new areas such as water management, digital integration and research exchanges.

In Uzbekistan, Mr Lee will visit Tashkent and Samarkand. Mr Lee will meet the country’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov in Tashkent, the country’s capital, said PMO in the statement.

He will also speak at the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, or the upper house of Uzbek parliament.

In Samarkand, Mr Lee will be hosted to lunch by the region’s governor Adiz Boboev.

Mr Miriyoyev last visited Singapore in January 2023, while then-President Madam Halimah also visited Uzbekistan in May 2023.

Uzbekistan was Singapore’s second-largest services trading partner in Central Asia in 2024 and its third-largest goods trading partner in 2025. During Mr Lee’s visit, Singapore and Uzbekistan are expected to sign a joint statement to formalise the intention to launch negotiations on a free trade agreement.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Member of Parliament Foo Cexiang, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Prime Minister’s Office will accompany him on the trip.