Merz Pitches Trade and Defence Ties on Asia Tour

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Europe and Asia’s “middle powers” to assert their interests in a changing global order during a visit to Singapore on Oct. 27, 2026. His four-day, business-oriented tour is also due to take him to Japan and South Korea, promoting cooperation and trade. The pitch joins investment, free trade and defence cooperation in one programme: the Brussels apparatus and national governments seeking stronger ties with business and security partners.

Trade as the Offer

Merz said renewed great-power rivalry threatens the interests of countries in Europe and Asia. He pointed to unpredictable U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump and trade restrictions from China, presenting Germany and Europe as stable locations for investment and cooperation. “This is a deliberate counterpoint to what we are currently seeing. We want to do things differently, and we want to show that there is a better way,” he said.

The alternative he described is built around expanding partnerships and free trade based on “open competition, reliability and a rules-based order.” Those are Merz’s stated terms. His tour is business-oriented, and investment opportunities sit near the centre of the agenda, alongside trade and government-to-government cooperation.

After meeting Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Merz said: “Under the federal government I lead, investment opportunities will be continuously improved.” He added that he had encountered “a great deal of confidence here in Germany and in Europe as locations for investment.” The federal government’s role, as he described it, is to improve the conditions for investment and make Germany and Europe more attractive to capital.

A Bigger Free-Trade Circle

Merz called for a free-trade agreement between the 27-member European Union and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. The partnership comprises 12 countries across five continents, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The United States and China are not members.

That proposal puts the EU at the centre of a wider trade project, with governments negotiating the terms while businesses and investors are invited to benefit from closer economic ties. The tour’s language of “open competition” comes with an explicit promise to improve investment opportunities; the article gives no details of the proposed agreement’s terms or its effects on workers and communities.

Wong said investors would keep backing Germany and Europe. “Many of our investors, including our sovereign wealth funds, have been investing in Germany for a long time. They will continue to invest because they are confident that, in the long term, Germany and Europe have potential.” His statement names sovereign wealth funds as part of that investment relationship and repeats the confidence Merz is seeking to turn into deeper economic ties.

Trade and Defence, Side by Side

Merz and Wong agreed to expand cooperation in security and defence, trade, investment, sustainable energy and artificial intelligence. The agenda links commercial cooperation with state security policy, rather than treating them as separate tracks.

Germany’s defence minister called for a “stronger Europe for stronger NATO.” The statement places European defence strength within the NATO alliance, while Merz’s Singapore visit seeks new partnerships across trade, investment and security. The governments have announced the areas where they want cooperation to grow; the source provides no further details of specific projects, spending or agreements. What it does set out is the political direction: more investment ties, a proposed EU–CPTPP free-trade agreement and closer cooperation in defence.