Transcript of Remarks by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at the Joint Press Conference with Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono in Jakarta, Indonesia, 12 May 2026

Thank you, my brother, Pak Sugiono. Pertama, saya mau mengucapkan terima kasih untuk peluang ini untuk pertemuan dengan Anda, saya gembira ketemu, kita tiap tiap minggu pun [ketemu]. I am very grateful to my brother for the opportunity to meet. As he said, we are meeting at this rate, almost every week, and even more frequently than that through WhatsApp and telephone calls. But given the state of the world right now, it is all the more important for there to be very close coordination and communication between us permanent neighbours, the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Singapore.

The first thing I wanted to start off with is a note of deep appreciation. You may be aware that on 8 May 2026, three persons – one Indonesian and two Singaporeans – lost their lives at Mount Dukono in North Maluku. Both my brother and I express our deepest condolences to the families involved. Specifically for Singapore, I want to express our deepest appreciation to the Search and Rescue (SAR) teams. More than 150 professional Indonesian SAR personnel undertook significant risk to themselves in very difficult circumstances, with a volcano that was still erupting and amidst adverse weather conditions. They were at considerable risk, and those of us in Singapore who were following the SAR mission were also hoping and praying for the safety of the SAR team.

This kind of instinctive looking out for one another and protecting each other in a time of crisis truly reflects the closeness of hearts between Indonesians and Singaporeans. I want to convey our deepest appreciation, through my brother Pak Sugiono, to the team in North Maluku – terima kasih banyak. These sorts of things, you cannot pay for or demand; you just hope and you rely on the strength of the relationship between our two countries.

Beyond that, we also had a chance in our meeting just now to review our bilateral cooperation, and I am here to tell you that our relations are in an excellent state. Singapore and Indonesia have stood by each other in both good times and tough times, whether it was the COVID-19 pandemic, or now with the crisis in the Middle East. We have stood by each other, we have supported each other, and we will get through this crisis together.

We reviewed the Expanded Framework Agreements which came into force in March 2024. This covers our collaboration in defence, airspace management, and law enforcement. The fact that we were able to settle these longstanding issues constructively and implement these agreements well is a very good sign of the strength of our bilateral relations.

Our economies also remain mutually reliant. Singapore and Indonesia are among each other’s biggest trading partners, and Singapore has been Indonesia’s largest foreign investor for more than a decade. This reflects Singapore’s confidence and belief in the long-term economic strength of Indonesia. It is not just a matter of words – follow the money, and the fact that we are voting with our investments, as an affirmation of Indonesia’s potential. We have bilateral projects like the Nongsa Digital Park in Batam and the Kendal Industrial Park in Central Java. These projects have continued to flourish, and we are also seeing good prospects for further growth, especially in the digital and green economies. That is why we are looking for more opportunities to enhance our engagements with the large number of provinces in Indonesia.

We are also looking for opportunities for Singapore and Indonesia to work more closely with Malaysia. For instance, towards renewing the Singapore-Johor-Riau Islands [partnership] – we used to call this SIJORI for short. This is a partnership which I believe can deliver tremendous benefits to all three countries. Within our region, we also hope to see more investments in transport connectivity and digital projects, and to also bring to reality the ASEAN Power Grid.

I am also particularly encouraged by the progress that we have made in the green economy. Indonesia has got vast potential in the energy space: solar, geothermal, hydroelectric. In fact, I see Indonesia as a superpower in energy; it is a matter of getting the investments to flow and getting these projects to fruition. We believe that Indonesia’s economic development and plentiful energy potential will complement Singapore’s role as a regional hub for technology and infrastructure financing. This will be another very meaningful way of [building] synergy between our two countries.

During last year’s Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat, Bapak Presiden Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed a milestone ceremony for projects in cross-border electricity trading and sustainable industrial development. We hope to see further developments in a concrete way to bring these projects another step forward.

Let me also say a few words on the geopolitical context. We are all facing the consequences of a war far away from us, in the Middle East: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the impact on energy supplies to Asia, including Southeast Asia, the inflationary impact of higher energy prices, and also some fairly fundamental challenges to the international rules-based system. In fact, I was having a conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister [Dr Seyyed Abbas Araghchi] last night, and I took the opportunity to invite him to our region to see – in the midst of great diversity and great potential for development – the importance of regional peace, the importance of a rules-based world order, the importance of abiding by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); the fact that the three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore – have been able to maintain the Straits of Malacca and Singapore as an open, safe, and vital waterway, including [through] the Co-operative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore that we have formulated pursuant to UNCLOS, as a positive model that could apply to other areas in the world. The point here is that the success of Indonesia and the effective cooperation that we have in our region has a major impact on the prospects for ASEAN, but can also serve as a positive example for the rest of the world.

Let me conclude by thanking you [Pak Sugiono] for your friendship, for your support, and for the many programmes that we have rolled out and will continue to roll out for the future.

Thank you very much.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

12 MAY 2026