Singapore and Cambodia on Tuesday (Jun 18) signed an agreement to continue cooperation in digital government.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Cambodia Minister of Post and Telecommunications Chea Vandeth and Singapore Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary at the Istana.
The ceremony was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet.
Dr Hun Manet is on his first official visit to Singapore as Cambodian Prime Minister. He received a ceremonial welcome at the Istana on Tuesday afternoon and called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
Mr Tharman and Dr Hun Manet “reaffirmed the warm and longstanding ties between Singapore and Cambodia”, as both countries look towards the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year.
“They discussed strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, financial transparency, and food and water security,” said MFA.
Dr Hun Manet also had a meeting with Mr Wong, who hosted an official dinner for him. The Cambodian Prime Minister had an orchid hybrid named in his honour.
The prime ministers welcomed the growing economic ties between Singapore and Cambodia.
“Both leaders discussed ways to deepen cooperation in new and emerging fields such as renewable energy and carbon credits,” said MFA.
They welcomed the establishment of the Laos-Cambodia-Singapore working group on cross-border electricity trading, which seeks to “catalyse the development of projects to drive the ASEAN Power Grid”.
Singapore has granted conditional approvals for electricity imports from Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Mr Wong also expressed Singapore’s continued support for Cambodia’s human resource development and capacity building.
They exchanged views on regional and international developments, emphasising the importance of upholding ASEAN centrality and unity, deepening regional economic integration, and building an open and inclusive regional architecture.
Speaking at the official dinner for Dr Hun Manet, Mr Wong said they were both “very proud to honour the long-standing bilateral ties between our two countries”.
“Over the decades, our bilateral ties have grown tremendously. It is marked by mutual respect, shared aspirations, and a commitment to regional stability and prosperity,” he said.
“Trade and investment have been key pillars of our relationship. Singapore was one of the early believers of Cambodia’s potential.
“Today, we are now one of Cambodia’s top investors. Our investments span key sectors like real estate, logistics, agribusiness, and finance. Our economic cooperation has expanded to new areas like renewable energy and carbon credits.”
Dr Hun Manet will receive a call by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday.
He will also be the guest of honour at the Cambodia-Singapore Business Forum and will visit Nanyang Polytechnic and Keppel Infrastructure@Changi. He will leave Singapore on Wednesday.
START OF FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY CORRIDOR
In conjunction with Dr Hun Manet’s visit, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the National Bank of Cambodia announced on Tuesday the start of the Financial Transparency Corridor (FTC) initiative.
Both leaders presided over the commemoration event at the Istana.
The initiative aims to “establish supporting digital infrastructure to facilitate trade and cross-border financial services for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and Cambodia”, MFA said.
MAS and the National Bank of Cambodia said in a joint statement that subsequent phases “will increase the deal flow, number of financial institutions involved, and explore green finance and trade finance, to bolster the trade capabilities of both countries”.
MAS managing director Chia Der Jiun said: “The start of the FTC, with an initial set of financial institutions from Cambodia and Singapore, will support greater access to financial services for SMEs, through the exchange of SME financial data on the FTC digital infrastructure.
“This will create greater business opportunities for our SMEs and participating financial institutions.”
Dr Serey Chea, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, said: “The FTC exemplifies the shared vision of the NBC and MAS to support information flows for businesses, in particular SMEs, through enhancing financial trust data for financial services between Singapore and Cambodia which will promote abilities of SMEs in better access for SMEs to finance beyond borders.”
