President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has vowed to further expand the country’s business and security ties with Singapore.
In his speech after receiving the credentials of Ambassador-designate to the Philippines of Singapore Constance See Sin Yuan at the Malacañang Palace on Thursday, Marcos said Singapore remains one of the country’s top trade partner.
“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 $13 billion. In addition, Singapore was our largest source of approved investments amounting to $2.4 billion in 2022,” Marcos said.
The President said the country would also pursue stronger collaboration with Singapore in terms of defense and security as well as people-to-people exchange.
Among the security accords, which were signed during the Marcos administration was the Regional Counter-Terrorism Information Facility (CTIF) and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
See Sin Yuan said Singapore remains invested in the Philippines and has expressed interest in further collaboration between the two countries, especially on emerging sectors.
“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.
The Singaporean envoy said an enhanced defense cooperation between Philippines and Singapore is in the works.
“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,” she added.