SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke with his Japanese counterpart, Mr Suga Yoshihide, on Tuesday (May 25) during a call in which both leaders exchanged views on regional and international developments.
PM Lee said in a Facebook post that he had hoped to meet Mr Suga in person at the Shangri-La Dialogue next month, but the high-level security forum could not take place now because of Covid-19.
Mr Suga had been slated to deliver the keynote speech at the event.
Instead, Mr Lee has invited him to visit Singapore when circumstances permit.
In their phone call, Mr Lee said Singapore looked forward to deepening economic and public health cooperation with Japan in order to support the post-Covid-19 recoveries of both countries.
This includes cooperation in areas such as the mutual recognition of health certificates, said the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) in a statement.
The leaders also discussed Singapore's food import requirements, under which imports from Fukushima are subjected to pre-export tests and have to come with certificates of origin.
Singapore is satisfied with the results of its food safety surveillance tests and will be lifting these requirements, MFA said.
In 2011, an earthquake caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
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