SINGAPORE - Singapore will help Mongolia develop affordable and sustainable public housing and reform its social security system under two agreements signed on Thursday (July 7).
Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai witnessed the signing of the two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between his government and the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) at Fullerton Hotel.
He is in Singapore until Saturday at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Under the MOU for public housing, inked by Mongolia's Minister of Construction and Urban Development, Mr Munkhbaatar Begzjav, and SCE chief executive officer Kong Wy Mun, Singapore will share its housing policies and experiences to help Mongolia's public housing development.
SCE, in partnership with Temasek Foundation, has launched a programme to train 60 Mongolian government officials in areas like public housing policy reforms.
SCE was formed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006 to lead public-sector collaborations with foreign governments that would build long-term partnerships and spin off opportunities for Singapore's private sector.
The MOU on social security reform, signed by Mongolia's Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Mrs Ariunzaya Ayush, and Mr Kong will help co-develop a provident fund system for Mongolia to better manage its retirement funds, administer social insurance and welfare services.
SCE said the Mongolian Parliament decided to make the transition from a pension fund scheme to a model like Singapore's Central Provident Fund when it saw the merits.
In his address, Mr Kong said SCE looked to deepen its collaboration with the Mongolian government in other areas like digital transformation, urban development, food safety and security, and corporate governance.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Oyun-Erdene presented Temasek Foundation with the Order of Altan Gadas (Order of the Polar Star) in recognition of its programmes and work for Mongolia. The state award is the highest civilian award Mongolia can present to a foreign citizen.
Over the years, Temasek Foundation - a non-profit organisation under the philanthropic arm of Singapore's investment company Temasek - has partnered with government ministries and public institutions in Mongolia in areas like education, nursing and public administration. More than 1,000 leaders and specialists have attended programmes, and another 500 are currently in ongoing programmes.
Receiving the award on behalf of the foundation, its deputy chief executive officer Benedict Cheong said the foundation has traditionally focused on technical and vocational education, but will shift as needs evolve in Mongolia. Programmes will cover areas like climate change, digital inclusion, urban management and resilience.
On Thursday, Mr Oyun-Erdene also had an introductory meeting with Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo at the URA Centre.
In her Facebook post, Mrs Teo said she enjoyed her discussions with Mongolia's Secretary of State for Digital Development and Communications Bolor-Erdene Battsengel during her visit here for the Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG) event last month, and was happy the two countries could continue the conversations on Smart Nation and digital transformation efforts when she met Mr Oyun-Erdene.
She said: "Our two countries share a similar approach to building a Smart Nation - we want our citizens and businesses to embrace digitalisation and for tech to enrich their lives and livelihoods. Just like how we developed Singpass to provide convenient access to government services, the Mongolians have created their digital platform, E-Mongolia, which currently offers over 650 services."
On Friday, Mr Oyun-Erdene will attend an official welcome ceremony at the Istana and meet PM Lee, who will also host an official lunch.
He will have a new orchid hybrid named in his honour.
He will also visit the National University of Singapore (NUS) on Friday, when an MOU will be signed between NUS' LRF Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk and the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia.
