President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Singapore President Halimah Yacob signed on Wednesday, Sept. 7, deals on counter-terrorism, information and communications, and data protection.
The agreements include:
- Arrangement concerning the assignment of a team to the Regional Counter-Terrorism Information Facility in Singapore between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Singapore Armed Forces;
- Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Digital Cooperation between the Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines and the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore;
- Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration on the development of New Clark City, between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) of the Philippines and Enterprises Singapore;
- Renewal of the MOU on Cooperation in Personal Data Protection between the NAtional Privacy Commission of the Philippines and the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore, and;
- Renewal of the MOU on water collaboration between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System of the Philippines and the Public Utilities Board of Singapore.
During his meeting with the Filipino community in Singapore, Marcos said that his State Visit in the country is meant “to strengthen the economic situation” of the Philippines amid the crises that happened during the pandemic.
“Sinisikap ko na maibangon muli ang ating bansa sa kabila ng dagok na naidulot ng pandemya,” Marcos said.
“My State Visit to Singapore shall seek to fully maximize our trade and economic cooperation,” he added.
Marcos is set to meet possible investors to “proactively attract investments” and “accelerate post-pandemic growth and create more jobs in the Philippines”.
Marcos said that Singapore was the country’s highest investor in 2021 and was among the “big-ticket projects” in the Philippines in telecommunications, infrastructure, startup and innovation, renewable energy, and healthcare sectors. –Katrina Gracia Consebido/gb
