Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau on Thursday has met with his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, to continue strengthening ties between the two countries during a bilateral visit in a new chapter as an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) strategic partner.
According to the statement released from the office of the Prime Minister, during this meeting, both leaders agreed to expand trade, investment ties, including through the Canadian Trade Gateway, which will be established in Singapore.
Also they both committed to continue working together on pressing global challenges including security, climate change, and supply chain resiliency as Canada and Singapore have a long-standing and close relationship in trade, investment, and business development.
Trudeau who took the bilateral visit as an opportunity to meet with some of the country’s most prominent business leaders to build dynamic economic partnerships, attract investments, create good jobs for both countries, promoted Canada as an attractive, reliable destination for investment from Singapore.
Highlighting competitive advantages like robust supply chains and Canadian technology like artificial intelligence, clean technology, and engineering, the leaders discussed strategies for building more reliable, responsible, and resilient supply chains and helping Canadian companies do business in Singapore.
In Singapore, Canada’s Trudeau announced the upcoming renewal of Canada-Singapore Cybersecurity Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that commits both nations to increase co-operation on information sharing, skills development, innovation and capacity building in cybersecurity systems.
This agreement will help coordinate internationally to combat ongoing threats to security, including in the Indo-Pacific region while both also agreed to begin negotiating a General Security of Information Agreement that would facilitate deeper defence cooperation and help Canadian industries participate in classified defence contracts and programmes with Singapore.
Both Prime Minsters, Trudeau and Loong announced their intention to establish Canada- Singapore Youth Mobility Arrangement, which will make it easier for the youth and young professionals to work and travel in each other’s countries.
“This agreement will help our youth build language, life, and leadership skills, increase employment opportunities, and strengthen the Canada-Singapore relationship”, they both said.
As part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada is working to deepen our science, technology, and innovation partnerships in the region. During their meeting, Prime Ministers Trudeau and Lee welcomed discussions to advance bilateral cooperation in this area.
Both countries look forward to sharing knowledge and resources, building innovative businesses, and creating highly skilled jobs, while deepening our economic relationship.
“As we expand our partnership, Canada will continue to work with Singapore to innovate, to add value to the global economy, to protect and uphold international peace and security, and to create opportunities for all our peoples”, Trudeau said.