Singapore––On June 6, 2024, Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Fred Pascual and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong met to reaffirm both countries' bilateral economic cooperation in the 55th year of the two nations’ diplomatic relations.
Held on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Clean Economy Forum, both ministers discussed the need to catalyze investment in clean technologies aligned with both countries' sustainable development efforts.
Additionally, the discussion explored the possibility of opening Joint Economic Cooperation (JEC) talks. The DTI chief also expressed enthusiasm for the planned high-level visits and engagements between the officials this year and offered full support for the upcoming state visit of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to the Philippines in August 2024. Deputy Prime Minister Gan also shared that the Philippines could serve as one of Singapore's partners in striving towards food security by sourcing agricultural supplies from ASEAN neighbors.