Singapore, Indonesia boost cooperation in strategic areas

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to cooperate in energy sector, including exporting clean energy from Indonesia to Singapore and developing a renewable energy industrial park in Indonesia's Riau islands.

The agreement was announced on June 16, following a bilateral meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Singapore Parliament House.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said the Singaporean government has long expressed its desire to establish a clean energy supply from Indonesia as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS) services.

Based on the goal of mutually beneficial cooperation, Indonesia proposed building an industrial park with the goal of building downstream with renewable energy. The cooperation agreement was outlined in a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an estimated initial investment value of up to 10 billion USD, excluding the value from the development of the industrial park.

During the meetings during his ongoing state visit to Singapore, President Prabowo also expressed his wish to strengthen strategic cooperation with Singapore in the fields of healthcare and modern agriculture.

Prabowo stressed the importance of transforming the national healthcare system, including the development of medical education facilities as a long-term step to strengthen the resilience of Indonesia's healthcare sector.

Prabowo said that Indonesia is ready to receive agricultural technology transfer from Singapore as part of the process of modernising the national food system.

Indonesia and Singapore signed a MoU on food security and agricultural technology, including a youth farmer development programme and the exchange of best practices.