More than a month before he formally assumes as the 17th president of the Philippines, Singapore President Halimah Yacob has invited former Senator President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., for a state visit.

The invitation came barely a day after Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a lengthy talk during which they discussed improving the two countries' bilateral ties moving forward.

In a letter sent to Marcos, the Singaporean president also congratulated Marcos for his victory in the May 9 elections.

“On behalf of the people of the Republic of Singapore, I warmly congratulate you on your electoral success,” Yacob said.

Yacob said she is looking forward to closer ties with the Philippines.

“Singapore and the Philippines share a warm and longstanding relationship, underpinned by strong economic cooperation and robust people-to-people ties,” Yacob noted.

“I recall fondly the warm and gracious hospitality extended to me by the Filipino people during my State Visit to the Philippines in September 2019. I look forward to working with you to strengthen the friendship between our two countries,” she added in her letter.

“I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to make a State Visit to Singapore. I wish you every success in steering the Philippines to greater heights,” the president added.

Marcos is expected to be proclaimed next week after garnering more than 31 million votes while his nearest rival has only received more than 14 million votes of 98.35 percent of election returns from the Comelec Transparency Media Server. Office of Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' R. Marcos