BANGKOK – Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee on Friday, and reaffirmed the Republic’s strong ties with both economies.
During their meeting, PM Lee and Crown Prince Mohammed reaffirmed the strong Singapore-Saudi relations on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and welcomed the good progress made by the Saudi-Singapore Joint Committee, PM Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin said.
The joint committee is a platform to broaden bilateral cooperation between both countries.
PM Lee also reiterated President Halimah Yacob’s invitation for Crown Prince Mohammed, who was also named Saudi Prime Minister in September, to visit Singapore. PM Lee and Crown Prince Mohammed last met in person at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in 2019. They last spoke on the phone in February 2022.
During his meeting with Mr John Lee, PM Lee congratulated him on his election earlier this year, said Ms Chang. Mr John Lee had taken over the role from Mrs Carrie Lam in July, and this was the first meeting between him and PM Lee.
Ms Chang said PM Lee and Mr John Lee reaffirmed the close and longstanding ties between Singapore and Hong Kong, and discussed how both sides could further strengthen cooperation as well as learn from each other.
They looked forward to more exchanges between Hong Kong and Singapore at all levels, she added.
“This was our first meeting, but we are not unfamiliar to each other, given the close ties and many similarities between our cities. Singapore and Hong Kong have always benefitted from mutual learning and cooperation. (I) hope to welcome him in Singapore soon,” said PM Lee in a Facebook post on Friday.
The leaders were meeting on the sidelines of the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Thailand’s capital. Hong Kong is one of Apec’s 21 member economies, and the grouping’s chairman this year, Thailand, had also invited Saudi Arabia, France and Cambodia to this week’s meetings.
In the same Facebook post, PM Lee also shared a photo of himself with Taiwan’s representative at the summit Dr Morris Chang, and his wife.
PM Lee noted that they last had tea together at the 2018 Apec summit in Papua New Guinea and added that it was good to see them in person again.
PM Lee had earlier met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday evening in Bangkok.
