US Secretary of State Blinken calls on PM Wong during official visit to Singapore

SINGAPORE: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday (Jul 31) during his visit to Singapore.

Mr Blinken and Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, met at the Istana on the second day of his official visit.

"I had a good meeting with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today," Mr Wong said in a Facebook post following the meeting. "Our bilateral relationship is in excellent shape."

In his post, Mr Wong reflected on ties between Singapore and the US and how cooperation between the two countries is expanding.

"We have substantial ties across many areas, from the economy to defence and security. For example, the US is the largest investor in Singapore, with close to 6,000 US firms based here, creating many jobs for Singaporeans," he said.

"We are expanding our cooperation to new areas, including on critical emerging technologies like AI, as well as civilian nuclear energy (so that we can keep track of new technologies and better assess the future energy possibilities for Singapore)."

Mr Wong added that he was glad that the US has "remained committed to engaging Southeast Asia" though it "has to deal with many preoccupations around the world".

"I look forward to strengthening the partnership with the US, both bilaterally and with ASEAN," Mr Wong said.

On Wednesday, Mr Blinken also met Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

Mr Blinken and Dr Balakrishnan signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, also known as a "123 Agreement".

Mr Blinken began a six-country tour of Asia on Jul 25 with Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and Mongolia also on his itinerary. His trip will conclude on Aug 3.