President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will continue to boost its strong trade, investment, and defense relations with Singapore. President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. welcomes Ambassador of Singapore to the Philippines See Sin Yuan during her presentation of credentials in Malacañang on June 8, 2023. (Noel B. Pabalate)
Stating that Singapore is among the country's most important trade partners, Marcos vowed to Ambassador-designate to the Philippines of Singapore Constance See Sin Yuan that his administration will further expand their cooperation in these areas. The new Singapore ambassador to the country presented her credentials to the President in Malacañang on Thursday, June 8. “Our bilateral relations have flourished over the past five decades, encompassing trade and investment, defense and security, education, and cultural exchanges,” Marcos said. “As co-founders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), we are partners in advancing key issues in regional and international fora, cognizant of the importance of maintaining ASEAN centrality amidst the shifting winds of geopolitics and great power rivalries,” Marcos added. The President said the two countries' economic ties are robust, with Singapore being one of the Philippines’ most important trade and investment partners. He cited that in 2022, the total bilateral trade reached $13 billion, and Singapore was the country's largest source of approved investments amounting to $2.4 billion.

Defense and security ties

During the presentation of credentials, Marcos also cited the Philippines’ engagements with Singapore in combating terrorism and national crimes which, he said, have been further strengthened in the past years. “During my administration, we have witnessed the signing of two arrangements concerning the Regional Counter-Terrorism Information Facility (CTIF) and on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,”  he said. “Our increasing people-to-people ties continue to strengthen our bridges of understanding and friendship through cultural exchanges and capacity-building programs,” he added.

'We are invested in PH'

The Singaporean envoy, on the other hand, said that the state visits by the two nations’ leaders were key to strengthening their relations. “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,” she said. “You might also know that we are enhancing our defense cooperation. Just last weekend the arrangement on the conduct of education, training, assistance and support…on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. 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. We want to be partners. We are invested in the Philippines,” she noted.