South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has held talks with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Cape Town, according to a press release from the South African president.
The two men reportedly discussed cooperation in such "focused on the future" areas as digitalization, communications and technology, water and sanitation, and skills development, among others.
"We have also agreed to deepen our cooperation on science and innovation," the South African president said.
In addition, Ramaphosa noted the growing global role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and in this regard, the parties discussed a possible application by South Africa to become a sector dialogue partner with the organization.
"Further deepening the cooperation between South Africa and ASEAN would open up opportunities in various fields, such as trade, infrastructure development, technology transfer, education, science, innovation and tourism," Ramaphosa stressed.
Singapore's prime minister was accompanied on his first official visit to the country by leading business people who will participate in a business roundtable with the leaders of the countries.
At a joint press conference with Ramaphosa following the signing of two memorandums of understanding in the information and communications technology area, Lee described the bilateral relationship as Singapore’s most broad-based one in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the same statement, Singapore's prime minister noted that the partnership between two countries has developed steadily since the exchange of visits between PM Lee Kuan Yew and President Nelson Mandela in 1992 and 1997, respectively.
This high-level visit is preceded by an official visit undertaken by South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, to Singapore in July 2022.