Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India. Through the assembly, Prime Minister Lee and Prime Minister Sunak issued a Joint Declaration to raise Singapore-United Kingdom relations to a Strategic Partnership.
The Strategic Partnership encompasses 5 pillars, particularly Financial Cooperation; Defence, Safety, Intelligence and International Coverage Cooperation; Local weather, Sustainability, Inexperienced Economic system and Power Cooperation; Analysis, Science, Innovation, and Expertise Cooperation; and Public Sector Cooperation. The Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership heralds a brand new period in Singapore-United Kingdom relations, catalysing alternatives for each nations to cooperate and strengthen linkages throughout varied sectors.
The total textual content of the Joint Declaration is at Annex.
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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
9 SEPTEMBER 2023
Annex
JOINT DECLARATION
BY THE PRIME MINISTERS OF
THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AND
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND NORTHERN IRELAND
ON A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
1 Singapore and the UK share a longstanding and historic partnership. Our robust, broad and deep relationship is underpinned by a strategic convergence and an unwavering dedication to free commerce, worldwide regulation and the rules-based multilateral system, in addition to sustaining an open and inclusive regional structure. We’re linked by a shared dedication to peace, stability and prosperity within the Asia-Pacific.
2 Relations between Singapore and the UK are dynamic and complete in any respect ranges, throughout commerce and funding, finance, defence and safety, digitalisation and cybersecurity, science and know-how, training, tradition and sustainable improvement. Our cooperation displays the like-minded, progressive and forward-looking nature of our bilateral relationship.
3 The Prime Ministers of Singapore and the UK commit to construct on the optimistic trajectory and momentum of our 2019 Partnership for the Future and the 2021 Singapore-United Kingdom Joint Political Assertion. We elevate our relationship and declare it a Strategic Partnership, strengthening current and launching new areas of bilateral cooperation.
Financial cooperation
4 We recognise that our safety is constructed on our prosperity, and decide to deepening our financial relationship to strengthen the dynamism and resilience of our economies. Our commerce and funding ties will promote mutual prosperity, financial cooperation and world development. We will strengthen collaboration in conventional areas of commerce, funding and finance, discover new frontiers in digital commerce and the digital economic system, and take steps collectively to make sure our economies are extra resilient. To realize this, we are going to:
(a) Maximise the advantages and alternatives from the entry into drive and efficient implementation of the United Kingdom-Singapore Free Commerce Settlement (UKSFTA) and the United Kingdom-Singapore Digital Economic system Settlement (UKSDEA), in addition to the UK’s accession to the Complete and Progressive Settlement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);
(b) Conclude negotiations on a contemporary and sturdy Bilateral Funding Treaty that protects and promotes funding between our two nations, preserving us on the forefront of finest practices;
(c) Discover mechanisms to facilitate cross-border knowledge flows, promote the adoption of interoperable digital programs via multilateral fora (together with ASEAN), and alternate finest practices on digital transformation and different areas of mutual curiosity within the digital economic system together with below the UKSDEA and the Memorandum of Understanding on Knowledge Cooperation;
(d) Leverage our Financial and Enterprise Partnership established in February 2011 to drive supply of our respective financial and commerce priorities, promote enterprise cooperation in analysis and innovation in addition to mental property, share financial evaluation and conduct coverage exchanges;
(e) Deepen cooperation to strengthen world financial governance, financial resilience and capability to fight monetary crime and illicit finance. We are going to proceed discussions on subjects associated to financial resilience, together with provide chains, funding, strategic sectors and worldwide monetary sanction obligations;
(f) Cooperate on regional financial improvement and commerce points, together with via ASEAN, and take motion on points of worldwide and customary concern on the United Nations, G20, WTO and different related worldwide fora;
(g) Construct on cooperation below the United Kingdom-Singapore Monetary Partnership introduced in June 2021 to discover alternatives for higher monetary cooperation, together with enhanced info sharing, nearer cooperation in worldwide fora, in addition to regulatory deference. The first platform to watch progress will likely be via an annual United Kingdom-Singapore Monetary Dialogue;
(h) Work collectively to scale inexperienced and transition finance, and discover bilateral pilot tasks that assist innovation and resilience in our respective monetary programs; and
(i) Use the United Kingdom-Singapore FinTech Bridge to assist continued development, funding and technological innovation within the FinTech sector and increase cooperation in areas together with central financial institution digital currencies, digital property/tokenisation in addition to funds know-how.
Defence, safety, intelligence and international coverage cooperation
5 Our defence, safety, intelligence and international coverage cooperation will contribute in direction of sustaining a free, open, inclusive, secure and peaceable worldwide rules-based order. We recognise the significance of strengthening our capabilities, to safeguard regional safety. To realize this, we are going to:
(a) Develop bilateral defence cooperation via our 2018 Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation to additional defence cooperation in areas of frequent safety focus;
(b) Reaffirm our longstanding and sturdy dedication to the 5 Energy Defence Preparations (FPDA), additional modernise the assemble of FPDA workouts and facilitate the introduction of extra superior property, to protect and improve the skilled and strategic worth of the FPDA;
(c) Collaborate to deal with the rising threats and malicious exercise seen within the digital and cyber domains via nearer exchanges on menace assessments and deterrence methods, and collectively drive worldwide cyber capacity-building initiatives, together with via the UN and the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence;
(d) Strengthen cooperation and discover deepening partnerships between the UK’s Ministry of Defence and Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, together with the Digital and Intelligence Service, in areas similar to administration of hybrid threats, significantly threats within the digital, cyber and data domains;
(e) Develop alternatives for additional defence functionality collaboration and trade collaboration, together with higher cooperation in areas such because the F‑35Bs;
(f) Take motion collectively to uphold and strengthen an open and rules-based multilateral system, together with via common dialogue on worldwide regulation and multilateral cooperation. Singapore will assist the UK’s engagement with ASEAN, and we are going to share info and evaluation on regional and worldwide developments;
(g) Collaborate on maritime safety points dealing with our nations and within the Asia-Pacific area, together with supporting ASEAN companions to answer challenges within the maritime area, working collectively to deal with new and rising threats together with to our ports, delivery industries and regional delivery routes, and to uphold the United Nations Conference on the Regulation of the Sea (UNCLOS) and worldwide maritime regulation; and
(h) Strengthen homeland safety and security cooperation, similar to via information-sharing in areas of frequent curiosity, and tackling of shared threats from illicit finance, financial and organised crime. We are going to construct resilience and functionality to guard in opposition to these threats via dialogue and coverage exchanges on finest practices.
Local weather, sustainability, inexperienced economic system and vitality cooperation
6 Our local weather, sustainability, inexperienced economic system and vitality partnership will promote and develop a inexperienced economic system that achieves the targets of the Paris Settlement and Glasgow Local weather Pact, improve vitality safety and local weather resilience, preserve and restore nature, halt biodiversity loss and create new jobs in sectors of the long run. To realize this, we are going to:
(a) Reaffirm our dedication to supporting world local weather motion below the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC), efficient implementation of our obligations below the Paris Settlement, and efforts to maintain the goal of 1.5oC inside attain, as our nations work to attain internet zero emissions by 2050, according to the most recent science;
(b) Commit to pursuing formidable local weather motion in assist of our obligations below the multilateral surroundings agreements;
(c) Speed up financial development in inexperienced sectors and improve vitality safety via our ground-breaking United Kingdom-Singapore Inexperienced Economic system Framework (UKSGEF), which can encourage the decarbonisation of financial actions, and improvement of low carbon vitality applied sciences, inexperienced transport, carbon markets and sustainable finance;
(d) Foster the talents and workforce wants of future trade via the institution of a Inexperienced Abilities Hall;
(f) Develop a powerful partnership in civil nuclear cooperation. This will likely embrace cooperation on nuclear security and safety, together with within the Southeast Asia area, inside the context of the area’s current authorized frameworks and insurance policies, and sharing info on fusion vitality, to facilitate functionality constructing; and
(g) Strengthen cooperation to advance regional nature and biodiversity outcomes together with via the supply of the Kunming-Montreal International Biodiversity Framework (together with Goal 12) and exploring collaboration on blue economic system and blue carbon initiatives, together with supporting the work of, and capacity-building with, Small Island Creating States, and thru multilateral initiatives such because the Blue Carbon Motion Partnership, amongst others.
Analysis, science, innovation, and know-how cooperation
7 As leaders in analysis, science, innovation, and know-how, we are going to work collectively to develop options to deal with world challenges and drive financial development, and to safeguard our future safety and bolster financial prosperity. To realize this, we are going to:
(a) Launch a refreshed Science, Innovation and Expertise Partnership to reaffirm our robust and deep bilateral relationship on this space;
(b) Renew our dedication to collaborate and to leverage investments in analysis and innovation throughout priorities that can drive financial development and useful societal influence;
(c) Collectively interact on and affect worldwide requirements, frameworks and pointers for important and rising applied sciences similar to Synthetic Intelligence (AI) and its governance, and Engineering Biology;
(d) Collaborate on joint approaches to allow scientific analysis exchanges, expertise mobility, and assist analysis and innovation in precedence areas;
(e) Deepen our cooperation on creating home and worldwide requirements on Web of Issues (IoT) safety and app safety, and on cyber expertise improvement;
(f) Cooperate to develop science and know-how capabilities and conduct exchanges to handle world points and challenges, similar to mitigating the impacts of future pandemics and local weather change; and
(g) Deepen our collaborative relationship and share info on public well being to optimise the usage of precision drugs, deal with future well being threats, put together for ageing inhabitants demographics and guarantee world well being safety.
Public sector cooperation
8 We may even improve our public sector cooperation, to share perception and construct capability for the good thing about each nations. To realize this, we are going to:
(a) Maintain an annual Everlasting Secretary-level Public Service Roundtable;
(b) Encourage higher cooperation within the arts, heritage and cultural sectors by exploring exchanges for cultural professionals and establishments; and
(c) Promote capacity-building in creating nations via joint technical help programmes below the Singapore-United Kingdom Third Nation Coaching Programme.
Implementation
9 The International Ministries will usually evaluate progress within the implementation of the Strategic Partnership, through a roadmap that will likely be usually up to date to make sure that our cooperation stays related and future-ready. The International Ministers will keep oversight of the strategic route of the bilateral relationship via common contact.
10 This Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership heralds a brand new period in Singapore-United Kingdom relations, catalysing alternatives for our folks to cooperate and strengthen linkages, for the frequent peace, stability and prosperity of our nations.
Issued on 9 September 2023 by:
MR LEE HSIEN LOONG
PRIME MINISTER REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE |
MR RISHI SUNAK
PRIME MINISTER THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND |