Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Meets Singaporean President To Discuss Economic And Health Cooperation

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin met with Singaporean Republic President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Singapore, Monday, (11/12/2023). (ANTARA/HO-Setwapres)

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin met Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, in Singapore, in order to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the economic and health sectors.

Starting the meeting, Vice President Ma'ruf conveyed his warm greetings from President Joko Widodo and congratulations on the inauguration of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as President of the 9th Republic of Singapore on September 14, 2023.

"I congratulate you on the election of His Majesty as President of the Republic of Singapore," said Ma'ruf Amin during a meeting with Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Presidential Palace in Singapore, reported by ANTARA, Monday, December 11.

On that occasion, the two leaders discussed plans to strengthen and strengthen relations between the two countries in the future through deepening cooperation in various strategic sectors, one of which is the economic sector.

"Singapore is Indonesia's main trading and investment partner. As of September this year, investment realization reached 12.1 billion US dollars, while total trade reached 22 billion US dollars," he said.

Therefore, the Vice President requested that this economic partnership need to be strengthened through the development of sharia economic cooperation and halal products which are estimated to reach more than 11 trillion US dollars by 2023.

As a country that has the largest Muslim population in the world, said Ma'ruf, Indonesia has the aspiration to become a global halal center that has been supported by three Halal Industrial Estates (KIH) in Bintan, Serang, and Sidoarjo.

"I hope Singapore can become a partner for the development of this industry, and encourage settlement," he said.

The next thing that is also discussed is related to cooperation in the health sector.

The Vice President hopes that the cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore in the health sector, which includes improving health services and technology, will be further deepened.

"I hope that in the future Singaporean investors can continue to be actively involved in improving the quality of Indonesia's health infrastructure, including in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Health in Sanur, Bali," he said.

The Vice President appreciated the enthusiasm of Singaporean entrepreneurs who participated in the Singapore Health Service Business Mission to Indonesia last October.

"I hope that the follow-up to this business mission activity can be realized soon," he said.

The Vice President highlighted the cooperation between education and tourism between the two countries, especially in the reactivation of the Sinapore Joint Working Group for the Indonesian Education Sector.

"I also highlight that the opportunity for cooperation in the tourism sector is still wide open," he said.

Closing the meeting, the Vice President expressed his hope that good relations between Indonesia and Singapore could continue and be sustainable, and hoped that the two countries could immediately complete harmonization of the 'cruise' protocol to make it easier for Singaporean tourists to vacation in Indonesia.