The Philippines and Singapore are eyeing better bilateral relations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Thursday.

Shanmugaratnam and Marcos held a bilateral meeting in Malacañang as part of the Singaporean President’s three-day state visit.

At the meeting, Marcos expressed hope of promoting “closer and enhanced cooperation with Singapore in existing areas such defense and security, trade and investment, and new areas such sustainability and energy.”

He described the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Singapore as “deep and multi-faceted.” He also hailed the signing in July of a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation between the two nations.

The agreement builds on the current framework of the Conduct of Education, Training Assistance and Support Activities on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.

Shanmugaratnam noted that Singapore and the Philippines are looking at further enhancing collaboration in “areas such as healthcare, the environment,” and others, admitting the “fine progress” being made in the relationship of both countries.

“So, I think we are making fine progress and it’s a phase of our relationship that shouldn’t be business as normal, incremental change after each meeting. But we really want to take it on a new trajectory. Under your leadership, I’m confident we’ll be able to achieve that,” he told Marcos.

Two months following Marcos’ trip to Singapore to deliver the keynote address at the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue, the Singaporean leader is visiting the Philippines on the invitation of the President.

Singapore and the Philippines commemorated the 55th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.