This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.
Japan Minister of Defense Mr Satoshi Morimoto and Singapore's Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen met on 10 October 2012, in the Japan Ministry of Defense. Dr Ng is in Tokyo on his first official visit to Japan as Singapore's Minister for Defence.
During their meeting, Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng exchanged views on the regional security situation, and reaffirmed the warm and friendly bilateral defence relations between Japan and Singapore. Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng noted the good progress made in deepening defence ties since the signing of the Singapore-Japan Memorandum on Defence Exchanges in December 2009. The two Ministers particularly highlighted defence exchange items below.
Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng decided to further promote the defence cooperation and exchanges between the two armed forces in areas such as bilateral exercises and multilateral exercises including that held under the ambit of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium.
The two Ministers also concurred on enhancing cooperation in mutual logistics support between Japan and Singapore, which would strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.
Dr Ng expressed appreciation for Japan's strong participation and continued support for the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) held annually in Singapore, and looked forward to the attendance of Japan's Minister of Defense at the SLD in 2013.
Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng also reaffirmed both countries' commitment towards multilateral cooperation under the auspices of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus and welcomed Japan and Singapore's partnership in co-chairing the ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Military Medicine.
The two Ministers also expressed strong support for the ADMM-Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine exercise to be held in Brunei in 2013. Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng acknowledged the value of the ADMM-Plus militaries exercising together to enhance defence relations and promote practical cooperation.
Dr Ng expressed appreciation to Mr Morimoto for the warm hospitality received during his visit to Tokyo. Mr Morimoto and Dr Ng expressed confidence that the bilateral defence relationship between Japan and Singapore would continue to grow, underpinned by mutual interests and shared perspectives, as well as a common commitment to regional peace and stability.
More Resources