SINGAPORE: Singapore and Brunei signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and reaffirmed their “special and longstanding relationship”, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Thursday (Aug 25).
Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah concluded his two-day state visit to Singapore on Thursday. During his visit, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on the sultan, who is on his fifth state visit to the country.
In a Facebook post, Mr Lee said: “We had last met a few weeks ago when I visited Brunei for His Majesty’s 76th birthday celebrations. It was good to catch up again and reaffirm our longstanding bilateral relations.”
The sultan’s visit was an “excellent occasion for both countries to also build on our traditional pillars of cooperation, including defence and finance”, said MFA.
“As fellow small countries, Singapore and Brunei are working together to strengthen our resilience in an uncertain climate,” MFA added.
During the sultan’s trip, both countries discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation. Singapore and Brunei agencies signed MOUs to deepen cooperation in the areas of energy, the green economy, and food and medical supply resilience, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
“The signing of the two MOUs to strengthen bilateral cooperation in energy, the green economy, and food and medical supply resilience signals our mutual interest in steering our countries towards a more sustainable and resilient future,” said Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong.
“Singapore will continue to partner Brunei, with whom we share a special friendship, to explore areas of cooperation that will better prepare us for the future.”
The two countries also signed MOUs on the Brunei-Singapore Youth Education Scholarship and to cooperate in developing public service capacity.