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Philippines, Singapore reinforce defence, economic relations

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob have discussed measures to strengthen defence and security cooperation, and boost trade and investment flows.
Philippines, Singapore reinforce defence, economic relations
Philippines, Singapore reinforce defence, economic relations ảnh 1Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) and his Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte and his Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob have discussedmeasures to strengthen defence and security cooperation, and boost trade andinvestment flows.

The two leaders talked ways to promote defencedialogues and training exchanges between military and special forces, Dutertetold the press after their meeting in Manila on September 9.

They were committed to intensifying trade andinvestment links as well as paying attention to the goals that they have setunder the Philippines-Singapore Action Plan.

Duterte also expressed his hope to cooperatewith Singapore in agriculture, education-training, science-technology, tourismand cultural exchanges, while Halimah said the bilateral economic ties arestrong and robust. However, the two sides still can do even more together tofurther boost trade and investment flows.

The Singaporean President arrived in Manila onSeptember 8 in a five-day state visit to the Philippines on the occasion of the50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.

During the visit, the two leaders witnessed thesigning of eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation ininfrastructure development, sustainable agriculture solutions, skills trainingand education in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, agri-trade,arts and culture, and data protection.

Singapore was the Philippines' second largest sourceof investment in 2018, committing a total of 21.18 billion pesos (around 407.3million USD), or 11.8 percent of the Philippines' total foreign investment.

Singapore is also the Philippines’ seventhlargest trading partner with two-way trade at 10.49 billion USD. There are morethan 200,000 Filipinos living, working and studying in Singapore.-VNA
VNA
#Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte #Halimah Yacob #defence and security cooperation #trade #investment flows #defence dialogues #training exchanges #tourism #cultural exchanges #Vietnamplus #Vietnam News Agency Philippines Singapore
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