MFA Press Statement: Official Visit by His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, 28 February 2019

               His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, is on an official visit to Singapore at President Halimah Yacob’s invitation.  

               His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed received a ceremonial welcome at the Istana.  His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed then paid a courtesy call on President Halimah, and was hosted to an official lunch by President Halimah.  His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed and President Halimah affirmed the long-standing and broad-based partnership between Singapore and the UAE.  They also exchanged views on ways to promote religious tolerance and inter-faith harmony, and agreed on the importance of strengthening our people-to-people ties.  His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed also met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.  They had a wide-ranging discussion on developments in Asia and the Middle East. 

               Following the meeting between His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed and Prime Minister Lee, a ceremony was held at Parliament House where His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed and Prime Minister Lee witnessed the exchange of the Joint Declaration on a Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership (SUCP).  The SUCP represents a shared desire on both sides to elevate ties and deepen bilateral cooperation in mutually-beneficial areas, such as trade and investment, finance, defence and security, sustainable development, education and human resource development, and health.  The text of the Joint Declaration is at ANNEX.  Three Memoranda of Understanding, in areas covering environmental protection and climate change, greenery projects and education, were also concluded.  Following the ceremony, Prime Minister Lee hosted His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed to dinner.  

               While in Singapore, His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed visited GlobalFoundries, a semi-conductor company owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company.  His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed will also visit Gardens by the Bay this evening.

               His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohamed departs Singapore tomorrow.  

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

28 FEBRUARY 2019

ANNEX

JOINT DECLARATION BY

THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

AND

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

ON A

SINGAPORE-UAE COMPREHENSIVEPARTNERSHIP

The Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE):

Acknowledging their long-standing friendship based on trust, mutual respect, and extensive cooperation across a wide range of areas;

Reaffirming that their common interests lie in promoting peaceful cooperation among nations, an open and stable global trading environment, and an adherence to international rule of law;

Resolving to maximise the economic potential of both countries for mutual benefit, through the promotion of sustainable growth and development and leveraging on the Gulf Cooperation Council-Singapore Free Trade Agreement; 

Emphasising the value of the Singapore-UAE Joint Committee (SUJC) and the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum (ADSJF), and their enhancement of the bilateral relationship;

Recognising that both countries are gateways to their respective regions, and acknowledging Singapore’s continued engagement of the Middle East and the UAE’s growing engagement of the Asia-Pacific;

Reinforcing the need to prepare our respective populations for future challenges and the importance of human resource development;

Emphasising the importance of promoting racial and religious tolerance in our respective countries and working closely to counter violent extremism;

Valuing their constructive collaboration in international fora; and

Desiring to elevate their broad-based and multi-faceted cooperation with a focus on key areas for the prosperity of both countries.

Hereby declare as follows:

1.     Singapore and the UAE have decided to elevate bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Partnership. The Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership (SUCP) is a framework to deepen existing areas of cooperation and catalyse new ones for the mutual benefit and interests of both countries, including in the following:

a.      Political Exchanges.  Singapore and the UAE are committed to sustaining the good momentum of high-level visits. Both countries will hold regular political consultations between the Foreign Ministries to review bilateral relations, and exchange views on regional and international issues, and global challenges. Both sides will also promote interactions, exchange experiences and explore ways to deepen cooperation, in areas such as technical assistance and diplomatic training, and through these means, build common ground to promote bilateral relations for the development of our peoples.

b.     Trade, Industry and Investment.  Both Singapore and the UAE enjoy wide economic ties with each other, and recognise the potential to do more together given their complementary strengths and strategic locations. Both countries aspire to promote stronger investment links and forge even closer economic cooperation, evident in the effective and frequent SUJC meetings and the ADSJF meetings. The establishment of a UAE-Singapore Business Council would enable the companies in Singapore and the UAE to leverage the connectivity and logistics nexus of both countries to explore viable commercial opportunities in their respective regions. Furthermore, as part of joint efforts exerted to promote bilateral trade, investment, and tourism ties, UAE and Singapore assert their keenness to enhance collaboration in the maritime and aviation sectors. 

c.      Financial Cooperation.  On financial services, close cooperation between the financial services authorities of Singapore and the UAE will facilitate effective supervision of each other’s financial institutions, promote innovation in financial services, and enhance capacity building.

d.     Defence and Security.  Singapore and the UAE will expand defence and security cooperation in areas of mutual benefit. On defence, both countries will explore deepening engagement through exchanges in military courses and study visits, as well as participation in multilateral events. On internal security, the two countries will explore ways to enhance cooperation in areas such as civil defence, policing, counter-terrorism, and countering violent extremism. On cybersecurity, both countries recognise that cybersecurity is an ever-evolving trans-boundary issue that requires strong cooperation between like-minded countries, as a secure and resilient cyberspace is a key enabler of economic growth and betterment of living standards for both countries. To this end, Singapore and the UAE will explore ways to forge robust Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)-CERT relations and regular exchanges and sharing of best practices to ensure that cyberspace remains secure and peaceful, and is not used to promote subversive and extremist ideologies.

e.      Sustainable Development and Energy.  Recognising their shared interests in sustainable development, both countries are committed to enhance cooperation in urban environmental protection, waste and water management, climate change, urban planning, and renewable energy through, amongst others, the exchange of visits, and sharing of information and experiences. Both countries recognise the value of exchanging views on energy issues and exploring cooperation in the area of energy through sharing technical knowledge and skills, and sharing best practices and expertise.

f.       Education and Human Resource Development.  Acknowledging their shared commitment to developing human resources, improving their citizen’s lives and preparing their respective populations for a forward-looking knowledge economy, Singapore and the UAE will explore ways to share best practices and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in human resource training and development. Both countries will also explore ways to bolster cooperation in research and development, including in sustainable development, desert ecology, urban food production, renewable energy, and advanced healthcare. Tertiary institutions in both countries will also explore platforms to strengthen institutional linkages and possible ways to enhance scholar and student exchanges.

g.     Health.  Sharing best practices and experiences in health, including in the pharmaceutical and medical industries.

2.     Singapore and the UAE will regularly monitor and implement the SUCP through the SUJC (between the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), and endeavour to establish additional working groups as and when required, and may add other fields of cooperation subject to mutual agreement from both sides.

3.     Singapore and the UAE undertake to observe and safeguard the confidentiality of documents, information and/or data received from or supplied to the other country pursuant to this Joint Declaration, or any other agreements made pursuant to this Joint Declaration.

4.     Any dispute or difference between Singapore and the UAE arising from the interpretation or application of any provision of this Joint Declaration will be settled amicably through mutual consultation and/or negotiation between the two countries without reference to any third party or international tribunal. Similarly, any termination of this Joint Declaration must be decided through mutual consultation and/or negotiation between the two countries, and any intention to terminate the Joint Declaration from either side must be communicated to the other in writing through diplomatic channels.

5.     This Joint Declaration is concluded with the view to enhancing and developing cooperation between the two countries, and is not intended to create any legally binding obligations between both countries. 

This Joint Declaration will come into effect on the date of its signature.

Done in Singapore on the 28^th day of February in the year 2019 in two copies, each in the Arabic and English languages. In case of any divergence in interpretation, the English text will prevail.