The 10th Session of the High-Level Russia-Singapore Intergovernmental Commission, 6 September 2019

Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Maxim Akimov co-chaired the 10^th Session of the High-Level Russia-Singapore Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC10) in Vladivostok, Russia, on 6 September 2019 on the sidelines of the 5^th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

SM Tharman and DPM Akimov agreed on the next steps to be taken on the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EAEUSFTA), building on the significant progress achieved since the launch of FTA negotiations at the 6^th Session of the IGC in 2015. Both sides looked forward to the signing of the Framework and non-Services & Investment (S&I) Agreement in the coming weeks and underscored their commitment to a speedy conclusion of the bilateral S&I Agreement. When in force, the EAEUSFTA will strengthen ties between the two regions as well as bilaterally.

SM Tharman and DPM Akimov took stock of the progress made since the 9^th Session of the IGC in 2018. They welcomed the growing cooperation across all sectors, including in digital development, skills training, start-ups and innovation. They witnessed the signing of six agreements:

• Roadmap between Singapore Cooperation Enterprise and the St Petersburg Government to signal the continued commitment of both Singapore and Russian stakeholders to the speedy implementation of the Urban Transport Management System (UTMS) project in St Petersburg City.

• Agreement between Enterprise Singapore and Sistema Asia, Mobile TeleSystems and Skolkovo Foundation to cooperate in innovation, technology transfer, business outreach and start-up ecosystem development.

• Memorandum of cooperation between Autonomous Non-Commercial Organisation “Far East Investment and Export Agency” and CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd to explore collaboration in digital solutions to facilitate government services, trade and business climate facilitation.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ITE Education Services (ITEES) and the Russia-Singapore Business Council to develop a programme for technical education based on Singapore’s experiences.

• MOU between Sport and Fashion Management (Sportmaster’s Singapore Office), the Internet Initiative Development Fund and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) to collaborate on tech development and digital cross-platform products.

• MOU between Sportmaster and NUS Centre for Healthy Ageing, to collaborate on research on clothing materials to support healthy ageing.

  SM Tharman and DPM Akimov reaffirmed the multifaceted and growing ties between Singapore and Russia. They underscored the important role that the IGC has played in strengthening bilateral cooperation over the decade since its establishment in 2010. In addition to promoting bilateral trade and investments, the IGC has catalysed greater cooperation in a wider range of sectors, including transport, infrastructure, agriculture, training and education, culture, and legal cooperation. They also encouraged both sides to continue their collaborations and to explore further opportunities in the Russian Far East.

Both SM Tharman and DPM Akimov signed the Joint Statement (attached) upon the conclusion of the IGC, and looked forward to the 11^th Session of the IGC in Singapore in 2020. 

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE
6 SEPTEMBER 2019

Caption: SM Tharman Shanmugaratnam and DPM Maxim Akimov exchanging the signed Joint Statement of the 10th Session of the IGC in Vladivostok, Russia, 6 September 2019.

Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

JOINT STATEMENT

OF THE TENTH SESSION

OF THE HIGH-LEVEL RUSSIA-SINGAPORE

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION

The Tenth Session of the High-level Russia-Singapore Inter-Governmental Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”) was held in Vladivostok, Russia, on 6 September 2019 to promote the development of broad-based cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”).

The session was co-chaired by Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of the Republic of Singapore Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mr. Maxim Akimov.  The meeting was held in an atmosphere of cordiality, friendliness and mutual understanding.

The agenda is attached at Annex I.

The lists of the delegations of the Parties are attached at Annex II.

The Parties agreed on the following areas of cooperation.

Bilateral Relations between Singapore and Russia

1. The Parties agreed to expedite the preparation and endorsement of bilateral agreements which are currently under consideration.

2. The Parties welcomed the commemorative activities and events held in 2018 in celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Russia. These included the State Visit to Singapore by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, hosted by the President of the Republic of Singapore, Madam Halimah Yacob in November 2018. During the State Visit, the two Presidents jointly officiated the ground breaking ceremony for the Russian Cultural Centre (RCC) complex which will house a Russian Orthodox Church. Going forward, the Parties agreed to intensify joint efforts on the design and building of the RCC. Singapore and Russia also signed a number of agreements, including an MOU in the field of Higher Education and an MOU to promote cooperation on social and labour issues.

Trade and Economic Cooperation

3. The Parties agreed that there is potential to intensifyeconomic cooperation and business ties.The Partiesnoted the importance of strengthening trade, investment and economic relations between Singapore and Russia.

4. The Parties welcomed the successful work on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union and its member states and Singapore. In particular, the Parties were pleased to note that the negotiations on the FTA had been substantially concluded and that the legal scrubbing process was underway with a view to signing the Agreement in October 2019. The Parties further commended the hard work of negotiators from both sides on the bilateral Services and Investment Agreement and looked forward to its expeditious conclusion.

5. The Parties agreed to continue their joint work on creating favorable conditions for further business activities in both countries.

6. The Parties welcomed the MOU signed by Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and GOST-R to exchange information and experiences in the application of industry standards in areas of mutual interest.

7. The Parties welcomed the exchange of relevant market knowledge in their respective countries and mutual interest to keep each other apprised of potential investment opportunities.

8. The Parties noted the 4^th International Forum “Russia-Singapore Business Dialogue” in March 2019 and the Russia-Singapore Business Council’s plan to hold the 5^th edition in 2020 in Singapore.

9. The Russian Party invited the Singapore Party to take part in the 24^th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2020.

Cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies

10. The Parties expressed their support for the development of the Russian ICT-hub in Singapore in order to promote the products and solutions of Russia and Singapore ICT-companies in Southeast Asia and in Russia respectively.

11. The Parties agreed to explore the development of joint projects in ICT, in particular in the areas of Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, “smart cities”, digital economy, ICTssecurity and ICT-related research and development.

12. The Parties welcomed the progress to further develop bilateral cooperation in the sphere of innovation, technology transfer and business outreach, as well as new opportunities for Singaporean and Russian technology startups and SMEs, such as Skolkovo Softlanding program, Sales Jet acceleration program, MTS Startup Hub Acceleration program, stipulated by the agreement between Enterprise Singapore, Skolkovo Foundation, Mobile Telesystems and Sistema Asia.

13. The Parties noted the interest of RVC JSC in attracting Singapore experts and government authorities to collaborate on the development of digital technology standards including “smart cities”.

14. Following the signing of the MOU between the Russia-Singapore Business Council and vCargoCloud at the 9^th IGC in September 2018, the Parties welcomed the progress made through the collaboration between RSTradehouse and VCargoCloud in developing an integrated trade platform to facilitate business to business transactions between Southeast Asia and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Cooperation in Agriculture

15. The Parties agreed to continue cooperation in the field of agricultural investment cooperation.

16. The Parties agreed to create a calendar of work of responsible watchdog agencies of the two countries for ensuring mutual access of agricultural products and food to the markets of the Republic of Singapore and the Russian Federation.

17. Given the difficult epizootic situation in the countries of Southeast Asia and Europe regarding African swine fever (ASF), the Russian Party invited its Singapore colleagues to visit Russia to exchange experiences on fighting ASF while visiting pork establishments with a high level of biological security. Such a visit could take place in 2019 – early 2020 simultaneously during the inspection visit by Singapore for approval of additional Russian establishments requesting to export to Singapore. The exact dates and details of the visit will be agreed by the Parties during the correspondence process.

18. The Parties agreed on veterinary certificates for meat, meat raw materials and offal obtained from slaughter and processing of poultry and finished meat products from poultry exported from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Singapore, as well as for export of meat products derived from pork from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Singapore. The veterinary certificate for meat, meat raw materials and offal obtained from slaughter and processing of pigs will be discussed simultaneously during Singapore’s re-evaluation of the African Swine Fever (ASF) control measures in Russia.

19. The Parties noted the positively developing cooperation between JSC “United Grain Company”, Olam International and Agrocorp.

Cooperation in Transport and Infrastructure

20. The Russian Party expressed its readiness to consider the possibility of developing cooperation with the Singapore Party in the field of port infrastructure.

21. The Parties agreed to explore Singapore-Russia cooperation in the Russian Far East and in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation aimed at developing trade, economic and investment ties.

22. The Russian Party informed the Singapore Party about the possibility of using the Northern Sea Route for the transit navigation of ships.

23. The Parties noted with satisfaction the continued positive dynamics of cooperation between Changi Airports International, the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Basel company cooperation on the project of developing Knevichi Airport in Vladivostok acquired by the consortium participants.

Project participants will continue working on further airport transformation into the main international transportation hub in the Far East, which is located in the territory with the status of a free economic zone.

Energy Cooperation

24. The Parties supported the continued development of dialogue between NOVATEK company and Singapore energy companies and welcomed their intention to further cooperate in LNG sphere. 

25. The Russian Party informed the Singapore Party about the readiness of PJSC “Gazprom” to assess the possibilities of developing cooperation with Singapore energy companies, including cooperation in LNG sphere on mutually beneficial terms.

26. The Russian Party informed the Singapore Party about the interest of JSC “United Engine Corporation” in supply and service maintenance of gas turbine power and gas pumping equipment to power generation, and oil and gas companies of the Republic of Singapore.

Industrial Cooperation

27. The Parties noted the initiative of the Russia-Singapore Business Council and the Radioelectronic Complex of the State Corporation “Rostec” 

1. to launch an engineering center for adapting and refining Russian high-tech products at the Center for Foreign Promotion of High-Tech Companies and Presentation of Investment Projects.

28. The Parties supported the initiative of the Russia-Singapore Business Council to invite Russian companies to participate in the Industrial Transformation ASIA-PACIFIC exhibition which will be held in Singapore in October 2019 and to organize the Russian pavilion at this exhibition.

29. The Russian Party informed about the readiness of JSC “Russian Helicopters” to expand cooperation with Singapore partners and tap on their experience and expertise in the region for the promotion of Russian civil helicopters where feasible and appropriate.

30. The Parties noted the successful completion of the contract on supply, testing and commissioning of the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system for wake vortex measurements at Changi International Airport between JSC “International Aeronavigational Systems Concern (IANS)” and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

Cooperation in Science and Education

31. The Parties welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Singapore and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in the field of higher education in 2018.

32. The Parties discussed the importance of promoting cooperation in the field of general, secondary vocational, mathematics education and assessment of education quality. The Parties agreed to consider the possibility of drafting the Agreement on Cooperation in the fields of General and Secondary Vocational Education between the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education of Singapore.

33. The Parties welcomed the progress made in relation to collaboration between the ITE Education Services (ITEES) in Singapore, Russian Singapore Business Council and Moscow State Government to develop a programme for technical education based on Singapore’s experiences.

34. The Parties agreed to explore opportunities for scientific and technological cooperation between research institutes and universities of Russia and Singapore, in areas of mutual interest, which may potentially include, but not be limited to, the following:

- biomedical research, particularly molecular oncology, synthetic biology, genomic and regenerative medicine, pharmacology;

- marine science technology research and development;

- Arctic research and World Ocean resources development;

- new materials development;

- digital science and technologies, including VR and AR technologies.  

Legal Cooperation

35. The Parties agreed to deepen cooperation on legal and dispute resolution services through joint conferences, exchanges and visits to share experience and expertise, so as to better support Singapore and Russian businesses. The Parties reaffirmed their support of the continued cooperation between the Russian Arbitration Center at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (RIMA) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Cultural Cooperation

36. The Parties noted the organization of Russian Music Days in Singapore in November 2018 by the Russia-Singapore Business Council with the support of the State Corporation “Rostec”.

37. The Parties were pleased to note the organization of the 1^st Russian Film Week in Singapore in June 2019 by the Russia-Singapore Business Council together with the Russian National Program “Family Circle” and Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore PT and welcomed the organizers’ initiative to hold the event annually. The Parties also noted that the Singapore Media Festival would be held on 4 December 2019. The Parties were pleased to note the participation of the Russian Federation and that Russian companies would be exhibiting at the event. The Parties encouraged both sides to continue exploring further media collaboration.

38. The Parties supported the initiative of the Russia-Singapore Business Council and the State Corporation “Rostec” to organize cultural and sports events in October-December 2019 and in February 2020 as part of the celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the establishment of the Russia-Singapore Business Council. 

Regional Cooperation

39. The Parties expressed their intention to further develop cooperation between companies from Russian regions and Singapore.

40. The Russian Party will increase efforts to inform representatives of business circles of the Republic of Singapore about the investment climate in the regions of the Russian Far East aimed at raising the number of investment projects. 

41. The Russian Party expressed its interest in seeking new promising cooperation projects between Primorsky Krai and the Republic of Singapore, including within the framework of the territories of advanced social and economic development and the Free Port of Vladivostok, and expressed readiness to further support Singapore companies that are already carrying out investment activities in Primorsky Krai.

42. The Parties discussed the prospects of Singapore companies’ participation in Russky Island development projects, including cooperation in establishing innovative infrastructure, technology parks and innovation centers at leading universities.

43. The Parties welcomed the development of preparations for the UTMS ITP project in St Petersburg as per the Cooperation Agreement signed during President Putin’s visit on 14 November 2018 to Singapore. The Parties noted that SCE has submitted the technical description and commercial estimate of the proposed work on the UTMS ITP project prepared by a Singapore team of experts including the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

44. The Parties welcomed the priority status given by the Government of St. Petersburg to the UTMS ITP project and the steps it undertakes to prepare the project terms of reference, contractual documentation and allocation of funds for the project of by end of 2019, and the plans by the Government of St Petersburg to start Stage 1 (Consultancy) of the UTMS ITP project in Q1, 2020.

Other Matters

45. The Parties welcomed the progress in the field of material science through the continued collaboration between Sportmaster and Nanyang Technological University. The Parties also welcomed Sportmaster’s new collaboration with the National University of Singapore’s Center for Ageing in developing apparel for active aging.

Eleventh Session of the Commission

46. The Parties expressed satisfaction with the results of the tenth session of the Commission and agreed to hold the eleventh session of the Commission in Singapore in 2020. The specific dates and venue will be agreed upon through the diplomatic channels.

Done in Vladivostok, Russia, on 6 September 2019, in duplicate, in the English and Russian languages, both versions being equally authentic.