BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo celebrated the countries’ continued cooperation on Monday at its seventh and final Leaders’ Retreat in Jakarta, an annual meeting between the two Southeast Asian leaders and also attended this year by their successors.
Lee’s visit to Indonesia is one of his final working trips before handing over control of his government to a new leader. The eldest son of the Singaporean founding father Lee Kuan Yew announced his retirement earlier this month after two decades at the helm. His Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Lawrence WongHe will take over in May.
Widodo, Indonesia’s first president from outside the traditional Jakarta elite, widely known by the nickname Jokowi, will be succeeded by Prabowo Subianto, who takes office in October.
All four top officials met on Monday at the colonial-style presidential palace in Bogor, just outside Jakarta, as the withdrawal became a changing of the guard for both countries.
“I am pleased that President Jokowi and I are handing over bilateral relations in good condition to our successors,” Lee said at a joint press conference with Widodo after the meeting. “I have every confidence that Mr. Prabowo and DPM Lawrence will continue to take the relationship to a higher level.”
The Singapore Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement ahead of Lee’s visit that the two leaders would take stock of the significant progress made in bilateral cooperation during their terms.
The two countries had previously ratified three milestone agreements, including a defense cooperation agreement and separate treaties on extradition and airspace.
The agreements were signed during the 2022 leaders’ meeting and came into force this year.
At this year’s retreat, leaders oversaw the signing of several agreements, including an update on defense cooperation, which Lee said reflected the two countries’ strong defense ties.
A similar defense agreement was first signed by the two countries in April 2007, but did not enter into force due to opposition in the Indonesian parliament.
The defense cooperation agreement will significantly improve Singapore’s ability to conduct naval and military exercises amid regional tensions over China’s growing military strength.
The island city-state lacks the sea, land and air space to effectively train its military. Indonesia, which has vast land and sea territories, has agreed to allow Singapore to join other nations in conducting naval exercises in the Bravo area of the South China Sea four times a year – conditions previously criticized by Indonesian lawmakers.
“We entered into these agreements and they came into force last month,” Lee said. “This shows that when we work together in a spirit of friendship and openness, we can tackle even the most complicated problems in a pragmatic and mutually beneficial way.”
Widodo said they also discussed regional and global issues.
“We agreed to continue promoting peace in the Middle East region and vowed to strengthen ASEAN centrality,” Widodo said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He added that Indonesia and Singapore agreed to cooperate in the areas of food security, energy transition, digital economy and healthcare.
The development of Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital in Borneo, was also discussed. Some 29 Singaporean companies have signed letters of intent to invest.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Investment, Singapore was the largest foreign investor last year. Lee said Singapore’s investment in Indonesia has increased steadily, exceeding a total of 74 billion Singapore dollars (US$54 billion).
Lee praised Widodo’s vision and leadership, saying he had strengthened ASEAN’s standing in international affairs and brought stability and progress to Indonesia and the entire region.
He said Indonesia, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy and one of Singapore’s closest neighbors, is on track to become one of the world’s largest economies.
“When Indonesia prospers, the region also prospers,” Lee said.
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Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.