PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Canberra on Monday (Oct 17) afternoon, after a closed-door roundtable dialogue with academics and a luncheon with senior business leaders in Sydney earlier in the day.

He is currently in Australia to attend the 7th Leaders’ Meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, an annual meeting under the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The meeting is expected to feature the signing of the Singapore-Australia Green Economy Agreement, for which negotiations began in September 2021. Among other things, this first-of-its-kind agreement aims to promote trade in environmental goods and services, and promote technology development and cooperative projects in the green economy.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Member of Parliament Foo Mee Har – who is part of the Singapore delegation – said: “I am most excited about the possibilities to work together on the green economy under the Singapore-Australia Green Economy Agreement.”

Commenting on the “great meetings” that morning at Australian think-tank Lowy Institute and the Asia Society Australia with “leading Australian business leaders”, she said: “There are great interests and respect from the Australians on Singapore’s perspectives on key developments in the world as well as opportunities for our countries to partner and collaborate.”

In a Facebook post on Monday evening, PM Lee said he had had “an engaging discussion at Lowy Institute on geostrategic developments and their impact on our region”.

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“Australia plays an important role in our region, through its active economic engagement and contributions to regional security,” he added.

Separately, noting the “strong economic and trade links” between both countries, he said that during the business luncheon, he “welcomed Australian businesses to use these strong relations to build more partnerships with Singapore, particularly in the digital and green economies”.

Australia was Singapore’s 10th largest trading partner in 2021, with total bilateral trade amounting to S$27.2 billion. Singapore is Australia’s fifth largest bilateral trade partner and its sixth largest foreign investor, accounting for A$121.4 billion (S$113 billion) or 2.9 per cent of Australia’s total cumulative foreign investment as at end-2021.

Having arrived in Sydney on Sunday, PM Lee flew to Canberra on Monday in a Royal Australia Air Force Boeing 737. He and Mrs Lee were received at Fairbairn airbase by Australia’s Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman.

PM Lee was hosted to dinner by Albanese on Monday evening, ahead of the official delegation meeting on Tuesday.

Commenting on both Sydney events in a Facebook post on Monday night, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan noted there had been “wide ranging discussions on global strategic and economic developments”. He hoped that “businesses in Australia will continue to use Singapore as a gateway to access opportunities and develop partnerships in our region”.

Apart from meeting PM Albanese along with PM Lee on Tuesday, Dr Balakrishnan said he would also have a bilateral meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.