VIENTIANE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte at the sidelines of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Vientiane on Tuesday morning (Sept 6), the first meeting between the two leaders since Mr Duterte was sworn in as Head of State in June.

“Prime Minister congratulated President Duterte on his election. Both leaders reaffirmed the long and close ties between the two countries and looked forward to the celebrations of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations in 2019,” said Ms Chang Li Lin, Mr Lee’s press secretary.

Bilateral ties are warm and friendly, with frequent labour and tourism exchanges. The Republic is also one of the top investors in the Philippines.

Ms Chang said Mr Lee and Mr Duterte discussed domestic and regional developments, adding that the Prime Minister invited Mr Duterte to visit Singapore. 

Mr Duterte’s visit to Vientiane to attend the Asean Summits was his first overseas visit as head of state, but has been overshadowed by how the White House cancelled a bilateral meeting with United States President Barack Obama at the sidelines of the event after the Filipino leader used an expletive to criticise his American counterpart on Monday.

In the evening, Mr Lee also met Australian Premier Malcolm Turnbull, who welcomed his Singaporean counterpart’s visit to Australia next month where Mr Lee will address a joint sitting of the Federal Parliament, said Ms Chang.

“Both leaders affirmed the excellent relationship between the two countries and welcomed the elevation of bilateral relations arising from the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP),” she added.

In May, Singapore and Australia concluded a landmark agreement to deepen ties and strengthen cooperation in multiple areas spanning trade, defence, innovation and the arts, building on the CSP agreed by both countries last year. 

Singapore is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner, with bilateral trade last year amounting to S$20.2 billion. The Republic is the fifth largest foreign investor in Australia, with total investments amounting to A$80.2 billion (S$81.4 billion). Total stock of Australian investments in Singapore in 2014 was A$50.7 billion.

“Our two countries are politically like-minded, strategically-aligned and economically complementary. We have much to gain by working closely together,” Mr Lee had said when announcing the landmark agreement.

On his part, Mr Turnbull had described the agreement as a “massive upgrading” of Australia’s relations with Singapore.

Late Tuesday night, Mr Lee was scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.