Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday met and hosted a lunch for his Timor-Leste counterpart, Dr Dionisio da Costa Babo Soares, who was on the second day of an official visit to Singapore.

"(The ministers) noted that Singapore was a major investor in Timor-Leste. They discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, and technical cooperation," said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "They also discussed Timor-Leste's application to join Asean, which Asean is currently studying."

Dr Balakrishnan reaffirmed Singapore's commitment to supporting Timor-Leste's capacity building needs through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and welcomed more Timor-Leste officials to take part in the SCP.

Dr Soares also called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the afternoon.

On Monday, he attended the Timor-Leste-Singapore Business Forum at Shangri-La Hotel and delivered a Distinguished Public Lecture at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.