President Ferdinand R. Marcos on Thursday reaffirmed the Philippine government’s strong trade and investment relations with the Singaporean government, vowing to further expand them.
In his speech after receiving the credentials of Ambassador-designate to the Philippines of Singapore Constance See Sin Yuan in Malacañan Palace, the President said the country shares a “deep-rooted history of collaboration and cooperation” with Singapore in various areas of mutual interest.
“Our bilateral relations have flourished over the past five decades, encompassing trade and investment, defense and security, education, and cultural exchanges,” the chief executive said.
“As co-founders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), we are partners in advancing key issues in regional and international fora, cognizant of the importance of maintaining ASEAN centrality amidst the shifting winds of geopolitics and great power rivalries,” President Marcos added.
The President also cited that the “active bilateral ties” have been further bolstered by the successful State Visit of President Halimah Yacob to the Philippines in 2019 in line with the golden jubilee celebration of the diplomatic ties between the two nations.
“Such high-level visits of our government officials attest to our flourishing ties and our high regard for Singapore as a bilateral and regional partner,” he said, also citing his successful visit to Singapore last year.
“Our economic ties are robust, as Singapore remains as one of the Philippines’ most important trade and investment partners. In 2022, our total bilateral trade reached USD 13 billion. In addition, Singapore was our largest source of approved investments amounting to USD 2.4 billion in 2022,” the President noted.
In terms of the defense and security, the President noted the Philippines’ engagements with Singapore in combating terrorism and national crimes which also have been further strengthened in the past years.
“During my administration, we have witnessed the signing of two Arrangements concerning the Regional Counter-Terrorism Information Facility (CTIF) and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” President Marcos said.
“Our increasing people-to-people ties continue to strengthen our bridges of understanding and friendship through cultural exchanges and capacity-building programs,” he added.
During their exchange of pleasantries, the Singaporean envoy said the state visits by the two nations’ leaders were key to strengthening their relations.
“I think the state visit gave a lot of momentum to our cooperation including in the emerging areas like fintech (financial technology), sustainability and energy as well. So, we’re keen to move forward on all these,” See Sin Yuan said.
“You might also know that we are enhancing our defense cooperation. Just last weekend the arrangement on the conduct of education, training, assistance and support…on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. So, we are extremely happy at the state of our relationship and my brief stay here is really to continue to bolster the trade and investment as you mentioned including in emerging areas and to look for other areas of cooperation. We want to be partners. We are invested in the Philippines,” she noted.
The presentation of credentials by the Singaporean envoy was also attended by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Assistant Secretary Aileen Mendiola-Rau, and Acting Director Charles Lawrence Ching.#
