President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday expressed optimism on fostering closer and enhanced cooperation with Singapore in defense and security, trade and investment, as well as sustainability and energy fields.

“MOUs in the fields of health and maritime security are already in the pipeline and are anticipated [to be] finalized in the very near future,” Marcos said in his opening remarks during the bilateral meeting with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Malacanang.

“There will also be the planned signing of MOUs by Philippine local government units and their Singapore private sector partners, a collaboration of a Philippine national government agency and the Singaporean private sector, and [a] business-to-business [agreement]," he added.

Marcos recognized the bilateral relations between the two nations are deep and multi-faceted. He was elated over the signing of the MOU on Defense Cooperation by the defense ministers of both countries last July.

According to the President, he was pleased that after months of negotiations, the MOU on the Recruitment of Healthcare Workers and the MOU on Collaboration on Carbon Credits Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement were exchanged during President Shanmugaratnam’s visit.

“I note as well that our respective agencies are actively discussing proposed MOUs in the areas of Health and Maritime Security,” he added.

For his part, Shanmugaratnam said following the MOU on Defense Cooperation, the two nations are now looking at areas such as healthcare, environment, carbon credits, infrastructure, and other fields.

“So, I think we are making fine progress and it’s a phase of our relationship that shouldn’t be business as normal, incremental change after each meeting. But we really want to take it on a new trajectory,” Shanmugaratnam told President Marcos.

“Under your leadership, I’m confident we’ll be able to achieve that. I should say, by the way, that you know, these things do matter," he added.

Shanmugaratnam arrived in the Philippines for a three-day state visit, his second for such a visit to an ASEAN country. He visited Brunei early this year.

The Philippines and Singapore established diplomatic relations on May 16, 1969.

Last year, the country’s total trade with Singapore was at $10.62 billion, with $3.53 billion in exports and $7.09 billion in imports.

In the same year, Singapore ranked as the country’s 8th largest trading partner, 6th export market (out of 205) and 7th import supplier (out of 221).

Based on recent estimates, there are 200,000 Filipinos living and working in Singapore. Presidential News Desk