Prime Minister Lawrence Wong,
The Members of the Singaporean delegation,
My Colleagues in the Philippine Government,
Our friends in the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening.
This visit of Prime Minister Wong demonstrates what we already have known for a long time to be true – the robust ties between the Philippines and Singapore and the steadfast camaraderie between Filipinos and Singaporeans are strong and remain strong.
Less than a year after welcoming President Tharman Shanmugaratnam – finally, I got that right at some point – we are honored that Prime Minister Wong has accepted our invitation and made his first bilateral overseas trip since securing a fresh mandate from the people of Singapore.
In our bilateral meeting just now, Prime Minister Wong and I had extensive follow-through discussions on the results of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur last week, and we exchanged views on what we can further do together to make the ASEAN Community stronger and more resilient.
Bound by our shared commitment to free trade and the value of multilateralism, we each elaborated on how we hope to achieve ASEAN 2045, a vision of a resilient and inclusive regional community.
We had detailed discussions on priority areas of bilateral cooperation that yield tangible benefits for the Philippines and for Singapore, both immediate and in the longer term.
I expressed to Prime Minister Wong the gratitude of the Filipinos for Singapore’s quick and effective deployment of its air assets to assist our efforts in delivering immediate necessities to far-flung victims of a typhoon last October.
Singapore remains one of our country’s most important investors. I expressed my hope that we will remain an important destination for these investments, and that the collaboration of our private sectors, both in the Philippines and in the region, will further deepen and adapt to global developments.
[On] climate change mitigation, our two countries reaffirmed our commitment to collaborate on a carbon credits mechanism in line with Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement by commencing negotiations on an implementing arrangement.
It is hoped that the early completion of the negotiations will result in climate-friendly actions and increased investments in related sectors, thereby creating meaningful and sustainable livelihood and business opportunities for both Filipinos and Singaporeans alike, while producing good sustainability outcomes for our local communities.
We are likewise seeking further achievements in our renewable energy sector. Acknowledging how Singapore will remain a major partner in our aspiration to diversify our energy sources, I encouraged Singapore to increase its investments in the renewable energy sector as part of our forward-looking bilateral agenda.
As we continue to promote collaboration and innovation, and facilitate training and exchanges between our health experts, we hope to soon conclude a bilateral agreement with Singapore on health cooperation.
Through the Digital Leadership Program between our Civil Service Commission and the National University of Singapore, we aim to accelerate digital leadership and transformation across the civil service.
I would like to acknowledge Singapore for ensuring the survival and propagation of some of the Philippines’ endemic and endangered species, most notably the Philippine Eagle.
I also extend our sincere appreciation to Singapore for ensuring the welfare, security, and safety of the 200,000, more or less, Filipino community residing in Singapore.
It is appropriate that our respective agencies assist in the reintegration of the hardworking overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) once they have completed their work contracts in Singapore and have returned to the Philippines.
In order to achieve peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, I expressed how the Philippines will continue to be a committed advocate [for] the rules-based international order, one grounded on international law, in equity, and on justice.
Finally, please allow me to express our sincere congratulations to all Singaporeans, as your country celebrates the 60th year of your independence this August. Your remarkable progress over six decades to become one of the world’s most stable, most admired countries is indeed an achievement worth celebrating and, for the Philippines, worth emulating.
Thank you very much.
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