PM Lawrence Wong at the Joint Press Conference with Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. (Jun 2025)

Mr President
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests

Let me once again thank President Marcos Jr. for his warm welcome and generous hospitality.

The Singapore-Philippines relationship has never been better.

It is a partnership that has been carefully nurtured over the decades by successive generations of leaders and officials.

It is built on a high degree of mutual trust and respect.

And it has enabled mutually beneficial cooperation over a wide range of areas.

For example, in trade and investment, as the President said just now, our links have continued to grow over the years. Singapore has consistently been one of the top investors in the Philippines, and that testifies to the confidence that businesses have in your economy.

We have also begun cooperation in new areas like sustainability and new technologies.

During our meeting earlier, the President and I had a good discussion on ways to build on and further enhance our bilateral cooperation. Let me add on to the areas that the President highlighted just now.

First, we agreed on the importance of expanding our collaboration in renewable energy, both bilaterally and in the region.

Singapore companies are interested in renewable energy projects in the Philippines, including solar and wind projects.

Such projects can generate economic opportunities for the Philippines while supporting the Philippines’ renewable energy targets.

We also agreed to accelerate these efforts to achieve the ASEAN Power Grid.

This will improve energy resilience in the region, and support ASEAN’s green transition.

Second, we agreed to do more in sustainability to meet our respective climate goals.

We took an important first step last August, with the signing of an MOU on carbon credits collaboration.

And our officials are working now towards finalising a legally binding Implementation Agreement that is aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

This will facilitate commercial participation in carbon credits projects, which can spur technology transfer, green investments, and create good jobs.

Third, we agreed to bolster people-to-people links between our two countries, and that forms the bedrock of our bilateral relationship.

Singapore is home to a large community of Filipinos.

They live and work in Singapore, contributing to our economy and society, and enriching our cultural diversity.

I conveyed to the President Singapore’s appreciation for their invaluable contributions – especially the Filipino healthcare workers who stood with us during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singapore is committed to being a good second home for the Filipinos living and working in our country.

The Ministry of Health is exploring ways to support Filipino healthcare workers in Singapore to upskill and eventually reintegrate into the Philippine healthcare system.

Both health ministries are also exploring ways to deepen cooperation in mutual areas of interest through a broader healthcare partnership.

Fourth, Singapore will support the Philippines’ capacity-building efforts.

We are already stepping up human resource development cooperation in various fields, including on digitalisation.

For example, as the President said just now, the National University of Singapore has developed a leadership programme to advance the Philippine Civil Service Commission’s digital transformation agenda.

Temasek Foundation has also been active in the healthcare space in Taguig City.

So, we will continue to step up cooperation in these fields and more.

Finally, the President and I agreed to work closely together in ASEAN.

We are both founding members of ASEAN, Singapore and the Philippines share a common interest in preserving ASEAN Centrality and unity.

This will be critical in accelerating the integration of the region, and enabling us to unlock the full potential of ASEAN.

It will also enable ASEAN to better engage our external partners like the GCC or the EU.

So the Philippines can count on Singapore’s full support for its ASEAN Chairmanship next year.

And we will coordinate closely because Singapore takes over from the Philippines the ASEAN Chairmanship the following year. So we will work shoulder to shoulder, side by side.

And I look forward to partnering President Marcos Jr. to chart the next phase of our bilateral partnership. I am confident that under his leadership, the Singapore-Philippine relations will continue to grow from strength to strength. Thank you.