Lee kickstart ASEAN tour with Brunei meeting
Lee kickstart ASEAN tour with Brunei meeting
Agencies, Singapore
Newly installed Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had a
friendly meeting with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Monday
as he began a tour of Southeast Asia to officially introduce
himself to his regional counterparts.
"Brunei is a very old friend of Singapore. We have very good
relations on a broad range of issues .... There are hardly any
problems to talk about," Lee told journalists after meeting with
Hassanal for about an hour.
Lee said excellent bilateral ties dated back to the time of
his father and Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew,
and continued through the 14-year reign of Goh Chok Tong, who
stood down on Aug. 12.
"I would like to carry on (the warm relations) ... so I
decided to come here first," said Lee in remarks aired on
Singapore's NewsRadio 93.8.
Lee said he and Hassanal held talks on regional and economic
developments, as well as cooperation in areas of the economy and
defense.
Lee, who served as Goh's deputy until replacing him, was to
leave the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan for Kuala Lumpur
on Monday evening ahead of talks with Malaysian Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi on Tuesday.
Lee and Abdullah are expected to sign a revised double
taxation agreement that is aimed at improving economic and
investment opportunities between their countries.
Abdullah, 65, who won a sweeping electoral victory in March,
has already visited the city-state once for talks and a round of
golf with former leader Goh.
Singapore and Malaysia have a history of prickly relations
dating back to their separation over racial tensions in 1965, and
issues such as a territorial dispute over a rocky islet continue
to cause problems.
But relations have improved rapidly since Abdullah replaced
Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysian leader in October last year.
With high-level government contacts between the neighbors
accelerating and cross-border investments expanding, hopes are
high that Abdullah and Lee will oversee a solid and long-lasting
improvement in bilateral relations.
The Singapore government did not say when Lee would travel to
the seven other Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries
to complete the customary round of official introductory visits.
The meeting comes as new leaders settle into power across
Southeast Asia after a year of elections.
"All the new leaders are very strong and this could breathe
some life into ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),"
said Joseph Tan, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank.
The Southeast Asian region has a combined gross domestic
product of around US$700 billion and a population of 540 million,
growing at more than 2 percent a year.