TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said his country and Indonesia have been close neighbors with longstanding ties. In his Facebook account, Lee posted photos after after attending the inauguration of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in Jakarta on Sunday, October 20.

“Over the years, we have deepened our engagement and today we collaborate across the board in trade and investment, digital economy, defence and security, education, cultural, and people-to-people links,” Lee said as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Lee hopes that the relationship between both nations would "continue to flourish under President Jokowi’s leadership, and may the friendship long continue to strengthen”.

Jokowi and Lee met in early October 2019 for a leaders' meeting in Singapore. In the meeting, Singapore and Indonesia agreed on electronic data exchange and increasing trade through the National Single Windows mechanism, among others.

Lee joined a press release at the Istana Merdeka (State Palace) that morning, in which he said he looked forward to building on the existing excellent cooperation between the two countries.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement that Lee congratulated Widodo on for his second term of presidency.

“PM Lee and President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) agreed to continue expanding collaboration across many sectors, including in human resource development and the digital economy,” the release stated.

TEMPO.CO