Prime Minister Lee was leading Singapore's talks and agreements at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat in Bintan this week, but he was supported by a group of top local ministers. Here's who followed him on the trip
On January 25, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made his first overseas trip of the year to Bintan, Indonesia to attend the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders Retreat.
The retreat was hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and was Prime Minister Lee’s fifth Leaders’ Retreat with President Widodo, following the Leaders’ Retreat they had in October 2019.
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During the retreat, which took place at The Sanchaya in Bintan, PM Lee and President Widodo signed agreements related to flight information regions, defence cooperation, the extradition of fugitives and more.
The retreat was meant to“decisively settle...longstanding bilateral issues,” according to Mr Lee.
During the retreat, the leaders also discussed how they could expedite the arrangements for a travel bubble with Batam and Bintan. This comes just a day after Indonesia announced that it will be opening a safe travel corridor to allow Singapore residents to travel into Batam and Bintan on January 24.
The retreat was a great success and it was down to not just the leaders but also the influential people who accompanied both PM Lee and President Widodo and who assisted in the eventual agreements about these bilateral issues.
Keep scrolling to see who followed PM Lee on this significant trip to Bintan.
1. Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sim Ann
Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sim Ann attended the retreat in place of Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan who received a health risk warning that a close contact of his contracted Covid-19. While he has tested negative for the virus, he is isolating himself as required by the law.