MFA Press Statement: Prime Minister Lee's Meetings in Santiago, 26 November 2008

As part of his official visit to Chile, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the La Moneda Palace. The two leaders agreed to work together to further strengthen and broaden bilateral cooperation. Chile is particularly interested in cooperating with Singapore in the area of education, which is a key priority of President Bachelet's government. Apart from education, the two leaders also exchanged views on a range of international and regional issues including the international financial crisis, APEC and the expansion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership.

Prime Minister Lee and President Bachelet witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Education Exchanges and Cooperation. The MOU aims to encourage cooperation in areas such as exchanges between experts, teachers and students from educational institutions in the two countries, and "train-the-trainers" programmes for teachers and instructors from teacher training and vocational institutions.

Prime Minister Lee also visited the Centre for Mathematical Modelling at the Universidad de Chile, and launched the Singapore Food Festival in Santiago.
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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
27 NOVEMBER 2008