PUBLISHED ONAugust 23, 2026 9:00 AMBYSean LerSenior Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make official visits to Kazakhstan from Aug 24 to 27, and to Uzbekistan from Aug 27 to 31.
This will also be SM Lee's first visit to Central Asia, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Sunday (Aug 23).
While in Kazakhstan, SM Lee will visit Astana, where he will call on President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, and Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev.
He will also be conferred the Order of Dostyk (Friendship) of the First Class Award — one of Kazakhstan's highest civilian honours — by President Tokayev and deliver a lecture at Nazarbayev University, where he will be conferred an honorary professorship.
SM Lee will then head to Almaty, where he will be hosted to lunch by Mayor of Almaty Darkhan Satybaldy and meet with Singapore and Kazakh business leaders.
Kazakhstan is Singapore's largest trading partner in Central Asia, with bilateral trade in goods amounting to $326.6 million and bilateral trade in services reaching $159 million.
Bilateral cooperation has also been expanding in sectors such as capacity building and trade and investments.
After Kazakhstan, SM Lee will head to Uzbekistan.
He will call on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov in Tashkent, and also deliver a speech at the senate of Uzbekistan's parliament.
In Samarkand, Senior Minister Lee will be hosted to lunch by the Governor of Samarkand Region Adiz Boboev.
Since 2023, Uzbekistan has inked several agreements with Singapore to strengthen bilateral cooperation in several areas such as economic cooperation, transport, healthcare, higher education, intellectual property rights protection, legal cooperation, security cooperation, civil service training and standards.
For the visits, SM Lee will be accompanied by 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, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Prime Minister’s Office.
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