MANILA -- President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, September 7, expressed optimism that his state visit to Singapore will further deepen and strengthen ties between their two countries.

This developed as several key agreements were inked during the state visit even as he also hailed the warm welcome received by their delegation from their hosts.

“Has been a very warm welcome that you have accorded me and my delegation as we visit Singapore, as part of the first trip that I have taken abroad since I assumed office,” Marcos said during his meeting with Singaporean officials.

“And we hope that this visit will not only reaffirm the long relationships that Singapore and the Philippines have. Our formal ties began in 1969. Our informal ties I think have gone back more than much, much longer than that.”

The President had separate bilateral meetings with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Presidential Palace.

After the bilateral meetings, the President and Prime Minister Lee witnessed the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two countries in various areas.

Among those inked were the memorandum of understanding between the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore in the field of digital cooperation.

Also inked was the Joint Communiqué between the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Ministry of Health of Singapore on the recruitment of Filipino healthcare workers.

There was also an exchange of four memoranda of understanding which include the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Personal Data Protection between the National Privacy Commission of the Philippines and the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore, and the memorandum of understanding between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Enterprise Singapore, which seeks to enhance collaboration on business opportunities on the development of New Clark City.

A memorandum of understanding between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the Public Utilities Board of Singapore on water collaboration was also signed.

There were also arrangements between the Singapore Armed Forces and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) concerning the assignment of a team to the Regional Counterterrorism Information Facility in Singapore. (PND)