Singapore, Thailand sign MOU on social sector development at revived Leaders' Retreat
Singapore and Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday (Sep 2) to deepen cooperation in social sector development, covering personnel exchanges, knowledge sharing and joint training. The agreement was inked during the Singapore-Thailand Leaders' Retreat in Bangkok, the first such m
BANGKOK: Singapore and Thailand signed an MOU on Wednesday (Sep 2) to strengthen cooperation in social sector development, covering five areas including personnel exchanges between relevant institutions and the sharing of knowledge and research on social welfare policies and programmes.
The agreement was signed by Singapore's Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli and Thailand's Social Development and Human Security Minister Nikorn Soemklang. It also covers visits to social service institutions and joint capacity-building activities such as workshops and training, and may extend to other mutually agreed areas involving women, family, and social welfare and development.
The MOU was signed during the Singapore-Thailand Leaders' Retreat in Bangkok, the first between Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. The retreat marked the revival of the platform after a hiatus of more than a decade; the previous edition was held in Singapore in 2015.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Mr Wong said the connectivity the two countries are seeking depends on the connections between their people. "We will continue to promote closer people-to-people ties, including among our civil servants and researchers. The MOU we just signed on cooperation in social sector development will also enable us to learn from each other's experiences and find new solutions together," he said.
Mr Wong described bilateral relations as being in "excellent shape", underpinned by a high degree of trust and rapport at the leadership level and strong institutional ties. At the retreat, the two leaders reviewed progress on areas agreed during Mr Anutin's visit to Singapore last November, including food and energy security, the digital economy and tackling transnational crime. Mr Wong said discussions focused on turning these shared priorities into "concrete projects".
On food security, the countries are looking at strengthening food supply chains by encouraging greater collaboration between food producers and traders, building on a rice trade agreement concluded in November. The countries are also working to strengthen energy resilience through initiatives such as the ASEAN power grid and cooperation in carbon credits. Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, were also discussed, with Mr Wong identifying manufacturing, healthcare and tourism as areas for practical AI applications.
Both sides also discussed strengthening physical and digital connectivity, with Mr Wong pointing to Singapore as a "natural partner" in Thailand's plans to bolster its position as a regional trade and logistics hub. On digital links, Singapore and Thailand pioneered the PromptPay-PayNow linkage in 2021, the world's first linkage between two national real-time payment systems. The next step, Mr Wong said, would be to connect with more countries through a common multilateral framework.
