Second Minister for Defence Mr Lui Tuck Yew and Australian Assistant Minister for Defence Mr Stuart Robert witnessed the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Defence Science and Technology (S&T MOU) by the Chief Defence Scientists of Singapore and Australia at the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) today. The renewal of the S&T MOU is in line with the spirit of the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 29 June 2015.

Singapore's defence technology cooperation with Australia began in the 1990s, and continued to grow with the inauguration of the Australia-Singapore Science and Technology Forum and the signing of the S&T MOU in October 2005. The S&T MOU has thus far provided a framework for both countries to carry out collaborative science and technology projects. In addition to the current collaboration, the renewed S&T MOU will further enhance defence technology cooperation between the Defence Science and Technology Group of Australia and the Defence Technology Community of Singapore, to include areas such as research, systems engineering and integration.

Mr Robert is in Singapore for an official visit from 22 to 24 July 2015. As part of his programme, he called on Mr Lui at MINDEF earlier today. During their meeting, they reaffirmed the close and long-standing defence relations between Singapore and Australia. Mr Robert will also be visiting DSO National Laboratories, the Defence Science & Technology Agency, ST Kinetics, the Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning Programme Office, the Temasek Laboratories at the National University of Singapore, as well as the Multi-Mission Range Complex.