Singapore & Malaysia

Singapore and Malaysia enjoy close bilateral relations, and there is an annual Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat for bilateral talks between the two countries. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has suggested in the 2018 Leader's Retreat that Singapore and Kuala Lumpur could potentially be linked up as smart cities, pointing to the themes of resilience and innovation that Singapore has chosen as chair of ASEAN in 2018. Najib has also expressed Malaysia's full support for Singapore's chairmanship of the grouping, and said that the emphasis on the digital economy is something both countries can work on together.

Singaporeans account for a majority of tourist arrivals into Malaysia, at nearly 13 million as of 2016. Malaysia was also Singapore's third largest market in terms of inbound visitors, contributing 8.5% of the total tourists in the city-state in 2012; tourists from Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang, Sabah and Perak formed the bulk of Malaysian tourist arrivals into Singapore in that year.

According to a study conducted by the Singapore Tourism Board, Malaysians tend to view Singapore as an extension of their lifestyle rather than a holiday destination, due to the close geographical proximity, cultural similarities and family ties between the two countries. Aside from leisure, 41% of Malaysian tourists in Singapore cited meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) as their purpose of visit.