Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Singapore today and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss areas of bilateral cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said yesterday.
The two leaders will meet at the Istana, following which they will hold a virtual joint press conference, MFA added.
This will be the first in-person meeting between PM Lee and Mr Morrison in more than a year.
Under the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), the prime ministers of both countries meet annually, but their last meeting was held virtually in March last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
PM Lee had then planned to visit the Australian capital Canberra to reciprocate an earlier visit by Mr Morrison in June 2019.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the coronavirus pandemic situation, among other things. Important bilateral agreements will be signed during the visit as well.
Singapore and Australia signed the CSP agreement in 2015 to deepen cooperation in trade, defence and people-to-people ties, among other areas.
It also provides for the prime ministers of both countries to meet annually to discuss cooperation and exchange views on regional and international developments.
During the virtual meeting between PM Lee and Mr Morrison last March, the two countries inked a digital economy pact to create a framework for both nations to cooperate more closely in areas such as digital identities and e-payments, so as to shape international rules and address issues arising from these emerging technologies.
Agreements were also signed to boost bilateral cooperation in other areas, including defence and data innovation.
Both leaders had also reaffirmed the excellent bilateral ties between Singapore and Australia, and said good progress has been made in a range of areas of cooperation since the two countries signed the CSP.
Mr Morrison is stopping over in Singapore today en route to the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Britain, where he is expected to have his first face-to-face meeting with United States President Joe Biden.
