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Singapore, Indonesia pledge to deepen business, security ties

SINGAPORE — Singapore and Indonesia pledged to strengthen business ties and increase cooperation in security issues today (July 28), as the two countries signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) during a state visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo (left) and Singapore  Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shake hands during the Joint Press Conference at Istana on 28 July 2015. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo (left) and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shake hands during the Joint Press Conference at Istana on 28 July 2015. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — Singapore and Indonesia pledged to strengthen business ties and increase cooperation in security issues today (July 28), as the two countries signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) during a state visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

“The President and I had a very good meeting this morning. We reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen our ties,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a joint press conference at the Istana with Mr Widodo, who was on his first official trip to Singapore since taking office last October.

Mr Lee said that they had discussed ways to increase economic cooperation, including the Kendal Industrial Park in Semarang in Central Java, a joint venture project between SembCorp and Indonesian developer Jababeka. Mr Lee said the project, which was the first major industrial park in Indonesia outside the Batam, Bintan, Karimbun special zone, was “a sign of our friendship, of our cooperation, and the potential for us to work more closely together for mutual benefit”.

Besides economic ties, both leaders underscored the importance of bilteral cooperation in combatting the growing threat of extremist terrorism, noting that there were citizens from both countries linked to the Islamic State militant group.

“We need to work together to develop our cooperation between the two governments and the security agencies,” Mr Lee said at the press conference.

“We have also agreed to exchange information concerning terrorist activities and ISIS because we all know this is a global challenge, and Singapore and Indonesia are concerned about this,” Mr Widodo told reporters, speaking in Bahasa Indonesia.

At the Istana today, the two leaders also oversaw the signing of three Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), two of which Mr Lee lauded as expanding the scope of bilateral ties.

“I’m very happy that we’ve witnessed the signing of the MOUs on e-government and youth and sports, because these will add more dimensions to our ties and draw us closer together,” Mr Lee said.

The MOU on Cooperation in Electronic Government was signed in recognition that e-government is an essential element of public service delivery to citizens. This MOU will seek to increase the intergovernmental sharing of knowledge and experience in e-government.

Similarly, the MOU on Youth and Sports Cooperation aims to increase exchanges between youths and athletes of both countries, in the form of joint training sessions and sharing of ideas and information.

The third MOU signed was on Strategic Cooperation between the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), to further strengthen business ties between both countries.

Mr Widodo and Mr Lee had met unofficially several times on a bilateral level, including when Mr Widodo was in Singapore for his son’s graduation late last year, and again when he attended the state funeral of founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee was also in Jakarta for Mr Widodo’s inauguration ceremony last October.

Both countries have enjoyed close economic relations over the years, with bilateral trade on an upward trend in the past decade. Last year, Singapore was the top investor into Indonesia with US$5.8 billion (S$7.9 billion) in investments, and has been one of its top five trading partners and investors since 2001.

At the same time, Indonesia has not only been a top source of tourist arrivals into Singapore since 1997, but it has also been a major destination for Singapore companies.

“We all know that Singapore is the biggest and number one investor in Indonesia and we hope that moving forward, there will be more investments from Singapore,” Mr Widodo said.

At the Istana tonight, Mr Widodo and President Tony Tan Keng Yam witnessed the presentation of certificates for the Technical Training Programme (TTP) in Ship Building, a three-week capacity building programme between Indonesia and Singapore designed to upgrade the skills of Indonesian workers, after which Mr Tan hosted Mr Widodo to a state banquet.

Mr Widodo, who is accompanied on this trip by First Lady Iriana Widodo, will have an orchid named after them – Dendrobium Iriana Jokowi – at the Singapore Botanical Gardens tomorrow.

Nine ministers from Mr Widodo’s Cabinet are part of the Indonesian delegation to Singapore, including Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil, Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, and Minister for Trade Rachmat Gobel.

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