S'PORE, AUSTRALIA IDENTIFY AREAS TO ENHANCE DEFENCE COOPERATION

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen met the Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne as part of the ninth Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Sydney, Australia, on 18 Mar.

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed initiatives to enhance defence relations under the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that was established in June 2015.

On the potential areas where defence cooperation could be expanded, Dr Ng said: "We are looking at deepening and broadening the already-excellent relationship, whether it is personnel exchanges, more military-to-military ties, science and technology components, as well as -- because Singapore is a very small place -- more training opportunities in Australia."

Dr Ng and Ms Payne also reaffirmed the usefulness of the Five Power Defence Arrangements as part of the regional security architecture.

Following up on the discussion on cooperation against extremist terrorism during their first meeting in November last year, the two defence ministers welcomed the conduct of an ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting-Plus Maritime Security and Counter-Terrorism Exercise that will take place in May.

A Joint Communique issued by the ministerial committee after the meeting identified five areas where both sides agreed to enhance defence cooperation:

1. New military and civilian exchanges and postings;

2. New training initiatives and greater collaboration in areas such as counter-terrorism, cyber security and other transnational threats;

3. Greater intelligence and information sharing in areas of common interests, such as new security challenges in counter-terrorism and extremism;

4. Cooperation in Defence Science and Techonology; and

5. Increased access to, and joint development of, military training facilities in Australia

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrisnan, Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang, Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Steven Ciobo, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Australia's Special Envoy for Trade Andrew Robb made up the rest of the Joint Ministerial Committee.

Besides defence issues, the bilateral meeting covered key topics that included foreign policy, and trade and economic cooperation. Following the meeting, Dr Balakrishnan noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong planned to visit Australia in May this year to conclude talks on a series of new agreements between the two countries, including the notion to enhance defence cooperation.