LABUAN BAJO – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met three regional leaders separately on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the 42nd Asean Summit, and affirmed the relationships and developments between Singapore and these countries.

Leaders of the bloc are in Labuan Bajo, a town on the western tip of Indonesia’s Flores island, for the two-day summit on Wednesday and Thursday chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

PM Lee met his counterpart from Timor-Leste, Mr Taur Matan Ruak, on the sidelines of the event, which the latter attended as an observer. The regional grouping decided at its previous summit in Cambodia to admit Timor-Leste in principle as its 11th member.

The two last met when Mr Taur visited Singapore in February, said PM Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin.

She added that the two leaders affirmed the longstanding and positive relations between their countries.

Singapore looks forward to the active participation of Timorese officials in the Singapore-Timor-Leste Asean Readiness Support training package, which the Republic launched in December 2022, she said.

The programme aims to train hundreds of Timor-Leste officials in support of the country’s bid for Asean membership.

PM Lee also met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and they “discussed the cooperation between Singapore and Vietnam, and exchanged views on regional developments”, added Ms Chang, noting that the two leaders have met regularly over the last two years.

She said Singapore and Vietnam have a growing partnership in the green and digital economies, and that both leaders look forward to making progress in these areas as the countries commemorate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership agreement in 2023.

In his first meeting with Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone since the latter’s appointment last December, PM Lee congratulated him, Ms Chang added.

“Singapore and Laos enjoy warm and friendly relations. The leaders discussed areas to deepen cooperation in the energy, digital and sustainability domains,” she said.

On Wednesday, Asean leaders and their spouses attended a social programme organised by Indonesia that involved a short cruise around Labuan Bajo.  

In the evening, they attended a dinner that was hosted by Mr Widodo at a seafood restaurant in the Ayana Komodo Waecicu Beach hotel.