April 23, 2026 | 02:02 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Southeast Asian nations—Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore—sharing the Malacca Strait have mutual strategic interest in keeping the waterway open, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
"The right of transit passage is guaranteed for everyone. We will not participate in any attempts to close or interdict or to impose tolls in our neighborhood," Balakrishnan told CNBC.
Singapore shares a border with Malaysia and Indonesia on the Malacca Strait. This shipping lane is one of the most important global trade routes, with a narrow width of about two nautical miles, making it a crucial hub for energy distribution in East Asia, including exports to China.
The Malacca Strait connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans and holds a strategic importance often compared to the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.
Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa earlier explored the possibility of imposing tariffs on ships passing through the strait.
Purbaya made the statement while speaking at the PT SMI Symposium in Jakarta on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
"Iran is charging vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz. If we divide it into three between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, we would be profitable since our route [in the Malacca Strait] is the largest, the longest," he said.
Read: How Indonesia Floats Ship Tax in Malacca Strait
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