The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) formalised two new agreements with leading Swedish institutions, signalling a deepening of bilateral collaboration into public policy research and executive development.
Summary:
- Marking 60 years of diplomatic ties between Singapore and Sweden, the partnerships build on a deep economic relationship.
- LKYSPP-SSE partnership combines LKYSPP’s policy expertise with SSE’s strengths in economics and business.
- LKYSPP-KTH partnership links LKYSPP’s executive development with KTH’s technology and innovation expertise.
- The two middle powers are well-positioned to cooperate on frontier technologies, clean energy and AI-driven healthcare amid a shifting global order.
In Stockholm on 20 October 2026, LKYSPP signed two Memoranda of Understanding with the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The MOU with SSE was signed by Dean & Wang Gungwu Professor in East Asian Affairs Joseph Liow and SSE President Professor Lars Strannegård, while the MOU with KTH was signed by Prof Liow and KTH President Professor Anders Söderholm.
Professor Joseph Liow, Dean of LKYSPP (right), and Professor Lars Strannegård, President of SSE, sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions. Photo credits: Ministry of Digital Development and Information
Professor Joseph Liow, Dean of LKYSPP (right), and Professor Anders Söderholm, President of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions. Photo credits: Ministry of Digital Development and Information
Both agreements were concluded during the State Visit to Sweden by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore, and were witnessed by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, and President Tharman.
Marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the collaboration between Singapore and Sweden comes at a strategically significant moment amid a changing global order.
In his remarks, Prof Liow said that public policy education is enriched by exposure to diverse governance traditions. He observed that Singapore and Sweden, though different in many respects, are both open economies that have navigated a world shaped by larger powers while retaining their own agency and commitment to international cooperation.
Shared Ambitions, Complementary Strengths
The two agreements bring together LKYSPP’s expertise in public policy and governance across Asia with the distinct strengths of each Swedish institution.
The collaboration with SSE, a top-ranked business school in the Nordic and Baltic region, leverages a shared commitment to rigorous, applied scholarship in economics, finance and business. To address shared policy challenges, the two schools will explore closer cooperation across areas of mutual interest, including a recurring forum convening academic experts, public officials, industry leaders and civil society representatives from ASEAN and the Nordics.
The collaboration with KTH, one of Europe’s leading technical universities, connects LKYSPP’s work in executive development with KTH’s expertise in engineering, technology and innovation management. Under the MOU, the two institutions will collaborate on a one-week overseas study visit to Stockholm as part of LKYSPP’s Senior Management Programme and explore the design of capability development programmes for public sector leaders. The agreement reflects the growing need to equip officials with an understanding of how technology, innovation and industrial strategy intersect with public policy.
The LKYSPP-KTH partnership links LKYSPP’s executive development with KTH’s technology and innovation expertise. Photo credits: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck
This ambition is already taking concrete form. “We’re developing a new programme next year, which will bring participants to Stockholm to dig deeper into the environment of innovation and AI of Sweden,” said Vice Dean (Executive Education) and Associate Professor in Practice Francesco Mancini. The programme is aimed at professionals from the civil service and the corporate sector.
A Strategic Collaboration
Singapore and Sweden have collaborated for many years across trade, investment, transport, health, education and aviation. At the institutional level, NUS and SSE have worked together through research, student exchange and executive education, while NUS and KTH maintain active student exchange programmes and the NUS Overseas Colleges programme in Stockholm.
These latest agreements broaden that engagement into public policy and executive education. As Prof Liow noted: “There is much we can learn from each other, and we look forward to building lasting academic partnerships with SSE and KTH that benefit our students, our faculty, and the broader public policy community.”
The value of academic partnership extends well beyond the campus. For Singapore, access to international expertise in frontier fields can help inform policy development, strengthen innovation ecosystems and generate wider public benefit. “That’s where I see the particular strategic angle of this partnership,” Prof Mancini said. “Not just economic ties on a year-to-year basis, but also something more of a long-term objective, especially in frontier technologies.”
These areas include quantum technology, where partnerships are already under way; clean energy, where cooperation carries a regional dimension; and healthcare, where advances in AI are opening new applications. On clean energy technology in particular, this partnership could also help realise the ASEAN power grid, extending the benefits into Southeast Asia.
As Singapore and Sweden commemorate six decades of diplomatic relations, these agreements point to a broader vision: one in which policy expertise, technological innovation and leadership development become the foundations of a deeper partnership between two globally connected middle powers.
Read the full press release here.
Follow the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy on our social channels to stay updated on the latest news, events, and announcements.