Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong warmly welcomed Brunei Minister for Finance and Economy II Dato Dr Amin Liew to Singapore and had discussions that included bilateral agri-food cooperation
ON the 3rd of June 2022 both Ministers reaffirmed the close and longstanding ties between Singapore and Brunei, and committed to deepen collaboration in areas of mutual interest. They discussed the positive progress of the Joint Working Group (JWG) for Agri-Food Collaboration that was established in 2019 to serve as a key platform for bilateral agri-food cooperation with Brunei.
In spite of the challenges posed by COVID-19, both countries renewed their commitment to further partnerships in the agri-food sector via the JWG. Mr Gan and Dr Liew also discussed further bilateral cooperation on the digital economy as well as climate change and sustainability, including carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen.
Brunei is a like-minded partner at various multilateral fora, such as ASEAN, APEC, and the WTO. Both countries also engage each other through regional economic integration initiatives such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
During Minister Amin Liew’s visit he also called on Singapore’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister-to-be Mr Lawrence Wong who said in his Facebook post (pictured left): “Singapore and Brunei share a very special relationship, which predates the independence of our two countries. We have close cooperation across many domains including in defence, health, tourism and education. Notably, we have the longstanding Currency Interchangeability Agreement and strong people-to-people links built up over the years.I look forward to building on this firm foundation to strengthen our special relationship for many more decades to come!”
