President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapore on Thursday said he expects greater activity in the business and tourism sectors following the liberalized air services agreement.

In his statement during a joint press conference in Malacañang, President Tharman said the memorandum of understanding signed in May this year would ease travel to and from the Philippines.

“The liberalization of the Singapore-Philippines air services agreement announced in May this year should spur greater tourism, but also greater trade and industry because that’s a very important basis for business people, including our MSMEs, to take an interest in different parts of the Philippines and find it very convenient to flip between Singapore and Philippines,” he said.

His statement came after he expressed support for the Philippines’ bid for further development through investments by Singaporean companies.

“We would like to participate in the Philippines’ development both through our companies investing in the Philippines,” he said.

According to government data, approved investments from Singapore reached US$2.4 billion in 2022, and US$674.4 million in 2023.

The Philippines made a total of US$10.62 billion in trade with Singapore, with US$3.53 billion in exports and US$7.09 billion in imports in 2023.

In the same year, Singapore ranked as the Philippines’ 8th largest trading partner, 6th largest export market, and 7th largest import supplier.

The Singapore President is in the Philippines for a three-day state visit.

He paid a courtesy call on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Thursday night, where the two heads of state witnessed the exchange of two MOUs in the areas of carbon credits collaboration and recruitment of healthcare workers.

President Tharman is expected to participate in various meetings with the Philippine business sector and other government agencies, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). PND