SINGAPORE: The United States and Singapore are entering new areas of partnership including cybersecurity, climate and economic cooperation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday (Aug 23).
The countries will also work together on pandemic and space cooperation, he said in a joint press conference with US Vice President Kamala Harris at the Istana.
Ms Harris is in Singapore for an official three-day visit, where she is looking to deepen bilateral cooperation in multiple areas. She had earlier called on President Halimah Yacob and held a private meeting with Mr Lee and delegates from both countries.
The vice president's visit follows US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s trip to Singapore a month ago, with Mr Lee saying the high-level visits emphasise the US' commitment to the region and shows it has "strategic and economic stakes" in Southeast Asia.
Mr Lee said he had an "excellent" discussion with Ms Harris earlier in the morning, highlighting that they reaffirmed the "robust and enduring" partnership between Singapore and the US.
"I also expressed our appreciation for US’ active role in the Asia Pacific, especially in Southeast Asia, and our shared support for a stable, rules-based international order in the region, based on international law, where all countries can both cooperate and compete peacefully with one another, and prosper together," he said.
Mr Lee said Singapore would also like to offer the Republic of Singapore Air Force's multi-role tanker transport aircraft to help the US as it conducts an evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan.
CYBERSECURITY
On the 55th anniversary of Singapore-US relations, Mr Lee said the countries concluded three agreements between their cyber, defence and finance agencies.
The agencies will strengthen cooperation in critical technology, critical infrastructure protection, data security and sharing of best practices, Mr Lee said.
They will also cooperate on regional cyber capacity-building, and international cyber policy discussions to support a rules-based multilateral order in cyberspace, he added.
CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Mr Lee said Singapore and the US will launch a climate partnership and new Smart City capacity building intiatives.
Singapore and the US will also embark on a Partnership for Growth and Innovation, Mr Lee said, as he welcomed the US-Singapore Supply Chain Dialogue to strengthen supply chain resilience.
PANDEMIC AND SPACE COOPERATION
Moving on to the pandemic, Mr Lee said Singapore and the US will pursue collaboration on genome sequencing and epidemic intelligence.
This will speed up identification of new COVID-19 variants as well as emerging disease threats, and augment regional preparedness for current and future epidemics, he said.
Finally, Mr Lee said he is happy to see both sides cooperate on space, which he called the "next frontier".
Mr Lee called the new areas of partnerships a "substantial agenda of deliverables" that improve the partnership between both countries.
Mr Lee said economic cooperation between Singapore and the US is "dynamic and flourishing", highlighting how Singapore is the second-largest Asian investor in the US with a direct investment stock of US$65 billion.
On defence and security, Mr Lee said both countries "cooperate well" on transnational issues including terrorism, cybersecurity and counter-proliferation, pointing out that Singapore has one of the largest foreign training presences in the US.
"I'm confident that our longstanding and multi-faceted bilateral relationship will continue to strengthen, year by year," he added.
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The countries will also work together on pandemic and space cooperation, he said in a joint press conference with US Vice President Kamala Harris at the Istana.
Ms Harris is in Singapore for an official three-day visit, where she is looking to deepen bilateral cooperation in multiple areas. She had earlier called on President Halimah Yacob and held a private meeting with Mr Lee and delegates from both countries.
The vice president's visit follows US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s trip to Singapore a month ago, with Mr Lee saying the high-level visits emphasise the US' commitment to the region and shows it has "strategic and economic stakes" in Southeast Asia.
Related:
Mr Lee said he had an "excellent" discussion with Ms Harris earlier in the morning, highlighting that they reaffirmed the "robust and enduring" partnership between Singapore and the US.
"I also expressed our appreciation for US’ active role in the Asia Pacific, especially in Southeast Asia, and our shared support for a stable, rules-based international order in the region, based on international law, where all countries can both cooperate and compete peacefully with one another, and prosper together," he said.
Mr Lee said Singapore would also like to offer the Republic of Singapore Air Force's multi-role tanker transport aircraft to help the US as it conducts an evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan.
CYBERSECURITY
On the 55th anniversary of Singapore-US relations, Mr Lee said the countries concluded three agreements between their cyber, defence and finance agencies.
The agencies will strengthen cooperation in critical technology, critical infrastructure protection, data security and sharing of best practices, Mr Lee said.
They will also cooperate on regional cyber capacity-building, and international cyber policy discussions to support a rules-based multilateral order in cyberspace, he added.
CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Mr Lee said Singapore and the US will launch a climate partnership and new Smart City capacity building intiatives.
Singapore and the US will also embark on a Partnership for Growth and Innovation, Mr Lee said, as he welcomed the US-Singapore Supply Chain Dialogue to strengthen supply chain resilience.
PANDEMIC AND SPACE COOPERATION
Moving on to the pandemic, Mr Lee said Singapore and the US will pursue collaboration on genome sequencing and epidemic intelligence.
This will speed up identification of new COVID-19 variants as well as emerging disease threats, and augment regional preparedness for current and future epidemics, he said.
Finally, Mr Lee said he is happy to see both sides cooperate on space, which he called the "next frontier".
Mr Lee called the new areas of partnerships a "substantial agenda of deliverables" that improve the partnership between both countries.
Related:
Mr Lee said economic cooperation between Singapore and the US is "dynamic and flourishing", highlighting how Singapore is the second-largest Asian investor in the US with a direct investment stock of US$65 billion.
On defence and security, Mr Lee said both countries "cooperate well" on transnational issues including terrorism, cybersecurity and counter-proliferation, pointing out that Singapore has one of the largest foreign training presences in the US.
"I'm confident that our longstanding and multi-faceted bilateral relationship will continue to strengthen, year by year," he added.
Continue reading...