HIS Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Zariah and members of the Bruneian delegation to the 15th Brunei Darussalam-Singapore Exchange Visit, last evening attended an official dinner hosted by Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam and Dr Seetha Shanmugam.

Several Singapore ministers and senior officials also attended the dinner. Members of the Brunei and Singapore delegations also participated in a friendly sporting event earlier yesterday, the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release on its website.

During the dinner, His Royal Highness and Minister Shanmugam welcomed the recent efforts to strengthen people-to-people ties and acknowledged the growing breadth of Brunei-Singapore bilateral relationship.

Both leaders agreed on the need to build on the close historical and personal links at all levels, and reaffirmed the importance of the exchange visit as a platform to maintain the special relationship between Singapore and Brunei.

Minister Shanmugam congratulated His Royal Highness on the successful conclusion of the 23rd Asean Summit and Related Summits under Brunei’s Chairmanship.

His Royal Highness called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Saturday. PM Lee conveyed his warm wishes to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and said that he looked forward to His Majesty’s State Visit to Singapore next year. PM Lee and His Royal Highness reaffirmed the close ties between Singapore and Brunei, the press release added. - Borneo Bulletin (28 October 2013)