Transcript Of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s Joint Press Conference With Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. On 15 August 2024

 Let me say a big thank you to President Marcos Jr., for your warm hospitality, for the generosity, which you have given me your views in the course of our warm bilateral discussions and for the spirit which you conveyed. The spirit with which we should embark on the strengthening of the relationship between our two countries.

 We are on a good track, and we have agreed all through the agreements that we were signing and exchanging today, as well as through some of the existing work that's going on between our two countries, including the defence cooperation. We've agreed that we should strengthen this relationship, broaden it, and make it a forward-looking relationship. My visit comes at a time when Singapore and the Philippines are commemorating our 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

 And it follows on President Marcos Jr.’s recent visit to Singapore just in May this year. We reaffirm the warm and long-standing relationship between Singapore and the Philippines. It's a relationship that brings mutual benefits. We are natural partners and what we are doing together brings benefit for both of us for today as well as for tomorrow. And I'm heartened to see how far the relationship is progressing and each time we meet. In fact, since the last time President Marcos Jr. came to Singapore just a few months ago, we've already made significant progress on several fronts, including on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) that we have just signed today.

 They are basically testament also to the way Singapore looks at the Philippines. We see ourselves as a partner in Philippines’ development in all aspects – economic development, sustainability, inclusive growth. We see yourself as a partner for the long term. We would like to participate in Philippines’ development, both through our companies investing in the Philippines. We'd like to share our experience where relevant, and we would also like to learn from the Philippines on how you tackle a range of complex challenges, including on the environment.

 We are very different countries, of course; vastly different in land and population size. I think you've got some superior talent in sports, and we can also learn from; but we are different countries that can learn from each other. Essentially, though, we also have the same aspirations. Our people want to see their lives improve. They'd like to be able to deal with the cost of living. They'd like good healthcare, good education, and fulfilling lives. Wherever we go in the region, people want fulfilling lives, and that's why we can work together through our governments, with each other, through our corporates, as well as through philanthropic agencies. I note that Temasek Foundation and one of our hospitals, Singapore's KK Women and Children's Hospital, are working well with Taguig City towards an MOU on assistance on maternal and child healthcare, for instance.

 And as close neighbours, we've always supported each other, particularly in times of need. Singapore Red Cross engaged in significant public fundraising when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines a decade ago. That's just one example. There are other examples, including the disaster relief work done by Humanity Matters, another Singapore based humanitarian organisation that worked together with the municipal authorities, NGOs, and local communities in various provinces like Cagayan, Mindanao, Isabela and Batangas after various disasters in recent years.

 Another important area is the conservation of biodiversity. We didn't talk so much about this three decades ago. Now, President Marcos Jr. and I agree that it is central to cooperation between our countries.

 Biodiversity is part of the natural wealth of the Philippines and the region. Preserving it is an important priority for us wherever we are. I happen to be the patron of Mandai Nature, which is a conservation arm of Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Group, and I recently visited a breeding programme at the Mandai Wildlife for the Philippines’ national bird, the Philippine eagle. Beautiful bird, but critically endangered. It's an example of what we need to do to collaborate together, in this instance, preserving a very important bird species. And we can work together to take advantage of resources and expertise on both sides to be able to keep that part of biodiversity and many other parts of biodiversity alive.

 Singapore believes firmly in the Philippines’ economic potential. Our companies are keen to invest in the Philippines. In fact, we are one of the top foreign investors in the Philippines in a range of industries. Transport and logistics, real estate and hospitality, telecommunications, utilities and now increasingly, the whole sphere of renewable energy.

 I look forward to some of the companies meeting us later at the State Banquet that President Marcos Jr. is hosting. But there's a much larger group of companies besides those that are present today who very keen to explore opportunities in the Philippines. And I understand too, that as far as infrastructure cooperation is concerned, Singapore-based Infrastructure Asia is working towards an MOU with the Cebu Provincial Government that would help address Cebu’s infrastructural needs, particularly with regard to clean water supply that can serve many municipalities and waste-to-energy facilities.

 We are also very keen to work on some other new areas of collaboration. President Marcos Jr. spoke about carbon credits collaboration. It's an extremely important initiative between our two countries, and we are looking forward to the conclusion; Besides the MOU that has been signed today, we're looking forward to the conclusion of the legally binding Implementation Agreement (IA) aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. In fact, there are companies that are already lining up their projects to be able to take advantage of this Implementation Agreement on carbon credits.

 One of them in practice, Keppel Corporation in Singapore and the Keppel Group, which together with GenZero is working with the Ayala Group, I believe in South Luzon, on a project that involves early retirement of coal plants that would earn transition credits. It's a good example of how we get going, get creative, make use of different forms of finance in order to provide streams of finance that make it possible for conservation to take place for the retirement of polluting industries. But at the same time, to generate growth and jobs; it has to go together.

 Another area that President Marcos Jr. and I discussed was the ASEAN Power Grid (APG), a key regional initiative. The Lao PDR, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore Power Integration Project illustrates its feasibility – the feasibility for cross-border electricity trade.

And the Philippines is   working   to   establish   the   Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines   Power Integration   Project (BIMP-PIP). Once we link both those Power Integration Projects together, we would have established the foundations for an ASEAN Power Grid. Some more work to be done with subsea cables and so on. But it's a very important start getting these two Power Integration Projects off the ground operational and being able to link them together. It will benefit all of ASEAN and will benefit each country individually by providing for more energy resilience and making economically viable the renewable energy projects that each of the ASEAN countries like the Philippines, is able to embark on. Economic viability will require scale, and the whole ASEAN market offers the scale that's needed through the ASEAN Power Grid.

We also discussed the Philippines’ efforts to drive digital transformation in the public service. Both sides are in discussion on a programme to strengthen digital leadership skills in the Philippines civil service. And President Marcos Jr. and I agreed that we should get this going later this year. We've set a deadline for our officials to meet. It's a project that is a priority for the Philippine civil service and we are very keen to play our role; in our case, we will be using the National University of Singapore as the training partners.

On people-to-people relations, President Marcos Jr. has just spoken about it; we really appreciate the invaluable contributions of Filipinos working in Singapore in a range of professions, especially the healthcare workers and frontline personnel who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Singaporeans in the fight against COVID-19. Going forward, they are an invaluable part of our workforce. I am glad that the MOU we signed today will be able to expand that relationship.

The further liberalisation of the Singapore-Philippines Air Services Agreement announced in May this year should spur greater tourism, but also greater trade and investment. This is a very important basis for businesspeople, including our Small and Medium Enterprises, to take interest in different parts of the Philippines, and to find it very convenient to flip between Singapore and the Philippines.

The recent Philippines and Singapore Friendship Week held in July is the latest step in our expanding partnership. Singapore is in fact the first Asian country to partner the Philippines in this initiative, which will engage stakeholders in both countries.

Once again, thank you President Marcos Jr. for your hospitality, your openness in the ideas which you are bringing to our relationship, which we are taking forward. I’m looking forward to the rest of my visit; I’m here for three days essentially and I’m looking forward to each component of the visit including what we are going to learn about healthcare and sustainability. I’m visiting some of your research institutions as well to look at new rice grains, rice species – all important issues for the future, both for the Philippines as well as for Singapore.

I should just conclude by noting as President Marcos Jr. has done, that the South China Sea is an extremely important issue. Singapore’s position of course is well-known, and we’ve consistently upheld the rights of all states to freedom of navigation and overflight, and support the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. That’s fundamental. UNCLOS has to be the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas are carried out.

So once again, thank you President Marcos Jr. and I look forward to our State Banquet later and to interacting some of the businesspeople, and the meetings I’m having over the next two days. Thank you.