SINAKSIHAN kahapon nina Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at Singaporean President Halimah Yakob ang paglagda sa walong kasunduan na naglalayong lalo pang palakasin ang bilateral relations ng dalawang bansa.
Ang naturang mga kasunduan ay may kinalaman sa larangan ng edukasyon, agri-trade, skills development and training, infrastructure, water resource management, arts and culture, at data protection enforcement.
“We talked about deepening our cooperation in defense and security, which includes strengthening defense dialogues and training exchanges between the military and special forces,” sabi ni Pangulong Duterte sa joint press statement matapos ang bilateral meeting nila ng Singaporean leader sa Malakanyang.
Ayon sa Pangulo, ang paglagda sa nasabing mga kasunduan ay ang kauna-unahang hakbang tungo sa mas pangmatagalang pagsasanib at pagpapalakas ng beneficial partnership ng dalawang bansa.
Sinabi naman ni Yakob na napagkasunduan nila ni Pangulong Duterte na mas marami pang magagawa na magkatuwang ang kanilang mga bansa.
“There is room to further boost trade and investment flows,” sabi pa ni Yakob.
Umaasa si Yakob na ang pagpapaunlad sa updating ng Singapore-Philippine Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement ay lalo pang magpapalakas sa koneksiyon ng dalawang bansa at makapagbibigay ng maraming oportunidad para sa pagtutulungan at kaunlaran. Kabilang sa mga nilaagdaan ay ang Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sa pagitan ng Department of Education at Temasek Foundation International at Nanyang Polytechnic International Programme on Innovations and Teaching and Learning of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with Design Thinking; MOU sa pagitan ng Department of Agriculture at Enterprise Singapore on Agricultural Cooperation and Re-lated Activities; MOU sa pagitan ng Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority of the Republic of the Philippines, at Skills Future Singapore Agency of the Republic of Singapore on cooperation on human capital development and rescaling and skills upgrading of work-force.
MOU sa pagitan ng Development Bank of the Philippines at Infrastructure Asia Singapore on knowledge sharing to support infrastructure development; MOU sa pagitan ng Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System at Public Utilities Board; MOU sa pagitan ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Republic of the Philippines at Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth of the Republic of Singapore on Cultural Cooperation; MOU sa pagitan ng Infrastructure Asia and Public-Private Partnership Center para masuportahan ang Philippine local implementing agencies sa development at implementation of PPP projects; MOU sa pagitan ng National Privacy Commission of the Republic of the Philippines at The Personal Data Protection Commission of the Republic of Singapore on Cooperation in Personal Data Protection.
Dumating sa bansa si Yakob noong Linggo ng hapon para sa limang araw na state visit sa bansa.
Ipinagdiriwang ngayon ng Filipinas at Singapore ang ika-50 anibersaryo ng kanilang diplomatic ties. EVELYN QUIROZ
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