President Halimah confers award on Indonesian minister for contributions to bilateral relations
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President Halimah Yacob (left) conferring the Distinguished Service Order on Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at the Istana on June 5.
PHOTO: HALIMAH YACOB/FACEBOOK
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SINGAPORE – President Halimah Yacob on Monday conferred the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang, or Distinguished Service Order, on Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments for his significant contributions to bilateral relations between both countries.
Mr Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan was conferred the award at the Istana, with the ceremony attended by Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said: “In his various capacities over the years, Coordinating Minister Luhut has worked closely with Singapore to strengthen bilateral relations, including as Indonesia’s ambassador to Singapore from 1999 to 2000, Minister of Industry and Trade from 2000 to 2001, and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs from 2015 to 2016.”
MFA noted that in his current role as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments, Mr Luhut played a pivotal role in the negotiation and ratification of a set of agreements under an expanded framework between the two countries – namely the Agreements on the Realignment of the Boundary between the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Singapore FIR, Defence Cooperation, and Extradition of Fugitives.
The domestic processes for the agreements reached under the framework were ratified in January
“The conclusion of the agreements shows that longstanding and complex bilateral issues can be resolved in an open, constructive and mutually beneficial manner,” said MFA. “This has paved the way for our two countries to focus on the broadening of bilateral cooperation in emerging global priority areas such as climate change and sustainability.”
Prior to the conferment ceremony, Mr Luhut, who is in Singapore from Monday to Wednesday, paid a courtesy call on Acting Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and separately had a meeting with Mr Teo, during which they discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation.
Instituted in 1968, the Distinguished Service Order may be awarded to any person who has performed within Singapore any act or series of acts constituting distinguished conduct.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office website, the order may in special circumstances be awarded to any person who has performed outside Singapore any act or series of acts constituting distinguished conduct.
