Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan having an audience with Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in Johor Baru, December 2, 2021. — Picture from Facebook/Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar
SINGAPORE, Dec 2 — Singapore welcomes the establishment of the Johor Economic, Tourism, and Cultural Office in the island state in 2022, which will further strengthen Singapore’s trade relations with Johor, according to the republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
The ministry today issued a statement following its minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s visit to Johor today to reaffirm the longstanding and warm relations between Singapore and Johor.
During the visit, the ministry said Balakrishnan and Johor’s leaders have exchanged views on new areas of cooperation between Singapore and Johor.
MFA said Balakrishnan also reaffirmed Singapore’s continued support for Johor’s efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
To that end, Singapore’s contribution of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was delivered to the Johor state government today through the Sultan of Johor’s foundation, the Yayasan Sultan Ibrahim Johor, it said.
The statement said Balakrishnan had an audience with and was hosted to lunch by the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.
The minister conveyed an invitation from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Sultan Ibrahim to make an official visit to Singapore in the near future.
He also called on the Tunku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim. Balakrishnan also had a meeting with Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
They welcomed the implementation of the Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) on November 29, 2021 for travel by air and across the Causeway, it said.
“The VTLs are a reflection of the good working relationship between Singapore and Malaysia, including the Johor state government, and build on both sides’ earlier efforts to facilitate cross-border travel during the pandemic in a safe manner,” said the ministry.
MFA noted that both sides also discussed the possibility of institutionalising more exchanges between public service officials, including through professional exchanges and capacity building programmes. — Bernama