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On his maiden visit to South Africa Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee was accorded a warm welcome by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Lee represented a number of sectors, including ports, logistics, healthcare, and biomedical, food manufacturing, and engineering.

The two leaders were proud witnesses to the signing of two bilateral cooperation MoUs which will serve to expand cooperation in the information and communications technology (ICT) space, and also work more closely in human capital development.

The ICT agreement signed between the Republic’s Ministry of Communications and Information, and South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies aims to provide a greater impetus to the cooperation between the two governments’ digital agencies. The Skills Development MOU will deepen Singapore’s tradition of sharing experiences and best practices in education and in training.

Sharing his views on the new development at a joint press conference with President Ramaphosa, PM Lee described the bilateral relationship as Singapore’s most broad-based one in sub-Saharan Africa. “So we had a good discussion of our bilateral cooperation, and within the context of the global situation and the regional opportunities in Asia and in Africa,” he said. Furthermore, he directed attention to how Singaporean firms in South Africa represent a range of sectors that include agribusiness, urban solutions, hospitality, manufacturing, ports and logistics, and innovation and technology.

Trade between the two nations, which have enjoyed 30 years of diplomatic ties, has continued to grow since 2018 , and amounted to over S$2.7 billion in 2022.

President Ramaphosa said: “It was a pleasure to discuss areas of mutual interest and explore ways to strengthen our bilateral relations, cooperation and partnership.” He spoke of how the two countries share a common interest in promoting economic growth, social development, and prosperity for their citizens.

“It is in this spirit that we have worked together to strengthen our ties,” he said. He also shared how productive the discussion had been while touching upon areas of cooperation in digitalisation, communications and technology, water and sanitation, and skills development, among others.

PM Lee also pointed out how important the people-to-people ties are for both nations. Elaborating further on this he said:

We have direct flight services between the two countries. We support each other to develop our human capital. Over 1,000 South African officials have participated in capacity-building programs under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). And last year, we also launched the Singapore-Africa Partnership, which includes priority placement, customised courses, and postgraduate scholarships in Singapore. We hope our friends in Africa – including in South Africa – will find it relevant and we benefit from it.

Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister of Singapore

He was of the belief that the two nations can do much more to strengthen connectivity between them, which includes more flight services, more trade and investment, more digital links, and more people-to-people ties.

The duo also discussed South Africa’s application to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN “Further deepening the cooperation between South Africa and ASEAN would open up opportunities in various fields, such trade, infrastructure development, technology transfer, education, science, innovation and tourism,” the President pointed out.

Separately, PM Lee pledged Singapore’s full support of South Africa’s presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) economies in 2025 and said the Republic hopes to contribute to it.

PM Lee’s visit has also provided an opportunity to discuss regional and international issues of common interest and concern. President Ramaphosa was able to also brief Prime Minister Lee on South Africa’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed to meet a group of African leaders in their capitals to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict. “My discussions with the two leaders demonstrated that they are both ready to receive the African leaders and to have discussion on how this conflict can be brought to an end,” he said.

PM Lee also shared Singapore’s position on the war, which is that the Republic saw it as a fundamental principle that the United Nations charter must be upheld and borders be sacrosanct. “One country cannot invade another with impunity, (and) when it happens, it cannot be something which is acquiesced in or approved of, but a clear disapproval has to be given,” he said. “Which is why Singapore has taken such a stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: to oppose and to condemn it, at the United Nations as well as internationally,” he elaborated further.

Both leaders shared their appreciation of the outcomes of the discussion. Prime Minster Lee also took the opportunity to invite President Ramaphosa to visit Singapore again, which the South African President accepted.