Toast Speech by PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Official Lunch in Honour of Crown Prince of Jordan HRH Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II (Jan 2024)

Your Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and gentlemen

A warm welcome to Your Royal Highness and your delegation. We are very honoured to host Your Royal Highness’ first Official Visit to Singapore, may it be the first of many.

Jordan and Singapore are longstanding friends and partners. Jordan was one of four co-sponsors of Singapore’s application for UN membership when Singapore became independent in 1965. We will always remember and appreciate Jordan’s act of friendship. Since then, the relationship has come a long way. As small states, we share a common interest to promote multilateralism and a rules-based global order. We cooperate in many areas. Singapore and Jordan signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2005, Singapore’s first with a country from the Middle East. We have a strong partnership in human capital development and capacity building. Since 2007, under the Asia-Middle East Dialogue framework, the Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) has conducted courses for about 300 participants from 21 countries. Singapore is always happy to share our experiences with Jordan. People-to-people ties are strong, with many Singaporeans pursuing higher education in Islamic studies in Jordan. We greatly appreciate Jordan’s support for our students, and especially Jordan’s generous gesture during the COVID pandemic of deploying a special flight to repatriate the students home to Singapore. In 2023, we marked 35 years of close diplomatic relations.

Singapore and Jordan have had many high-level exchanges over the years. I warmly remember my visit to Jordan in 2016 and being graciously received by His Majesty King Abdullah II. On that trip, I also visited Petra, the Baptism site, and Mount Nebo – a sprinkling of what Jordan has to offer in terms of tourism and significant historical attractions. President Tharman visited Jordan in May 2023 in his capacity as then-Senior Minister, during which he had the pleasure of meeting Your Royal Highness. His Majesty King Abdullah II, a good friend of Singapore, made three State Visits in 2004, 2014, and most recently in 2019. During that visit, His Majesty delivered the keynote speech at the International Conference on Cohesive Societies. His Majesty spoke about the importance of interfaith dialogue as a key ingredient for building cohesive societies. His Majesty’s words deeply resonated with Singaporeans given our multi-racial and multi-ethnic society, where harmony and social cohesion are some cardinal values of the nation. All these visits have translated into mutual goodwill and trust between our two countries. And today, I am very happy to have the privilege of welcoming Your Royal Highness to Singapore to continue this association and to deepen our ties further.

Your Royal Highness’ visit has strengthened our cooperation in several new areas. Six agreements were signed during Your Royal Highness’ visit: Youth development, environmental management, vocational and technical training, civil service training, halal food certification and standardisation. I thank Your Royal Highness for supporting this broadening of the bilateral relationship, and look forward to our two countries doing more together in the future.

Your Royal Highness, please convey my best wishes for the good health of His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania. I also wish Your Royal Highness every success and the best of health, and peace and prosperity for the people of Jordan. Long may this enduring friendship between our two countries continue!

Thank you very much.