Singapore’s Halimah Yacob arrived in Brunei on Friday afternoon for her first overseas visit since taking office as president last October.
“Brunei is a special friend of Singapore. Our bilateral cooperation spans across a wide range of areas, including trade, foreign affairs, defence, finance, culture and education. I look forward to reaffirming the longstanding ties between Singapore and Brunei over the next few days,” she said in an Instagram post.
President Halimah is in Brunei for a four-day state visit at the invitation of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
On Saturday she will hold bilateral talks with Brunei’s monarch and witness the signing of two agreements: a memorandum of understanding to exchange information related to money laundering and terrorist financing, and a financial technology cooperation agreement.
In the evening, a state banquet will be held in her honour at Istana Nurul Iman.
During her stay, the president will also visit the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Defence Academy, the Universiti Brunei Darussalam Botanical Research Centre and Singapore Armed Forces training camp in Temburong.
On Sunday, she is expected to join His Majesty for a morning walk at Taman Mahkota Jubli Emas, followed by breakfast in the capital during Bandar ku Ceria, a weekly car-free event held on Sunday mornings.
The president’s delegation includes Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, and members of parliament Desmond Choo, Lim Wee Kiak and Joan Pereira.
Halimah is the first woman and second ethnic Malay to hold the office of president in Singapore.