Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Hosts Bilateral in Honor of Ng Eng Hen Minister of Defense of SingaporeU.S., Singapore Sign SOI to Strengthen Data, Analytics and[...]

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Minister Ng, welcome back to the Pentagon. It's great to see you again, so soon after you graciously hosted me in Singapore, in May during the Shangri La dialogue. Singapore remains one of our most valued defense partners, and I'm proud that our defense partnership keeps growing stronger.

Last December, our teams finalized the security of supply arrangement and now we're taking steps to strengthen our supply chain resiliency. In May our team sign an important Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Innovation. This will help both of our countries to source cutting edge technology quickly and effectively. And today, our chief digital and artificial intelligence officer and Singapore's deputy secretary for technology signed a new statement of intent for data analytics, and artificial intelligence cooperation.

This major arrangement will strengthen interoperability and promote the responsible use of AI and defense. Our military is also continuing to train together across all domains. As we speak, Singapore is one of 29 countries participating in a RIMPAC exercise in Hawaii. All these accomplishments underscore the outstanding progress that we've made together to advance our shared vision for free and open Indo Pacific.

You and I have worked closely together over the past three and a half years, and I'm proud of the robust part robust partnership that we forged. I'm grateful for your friendship, Mr. Minister. So thanks again for making the trip and thanks for all that you're doing for peace and security in the Indo Pacific and around the world. I look forward to our discussion today. And again, thanks for being here, so over to you.

MINISTER OF DEFENSE NG ENG HEN: Oh, thank you, Secretary Austin, for taking the time to receive me and my delegation. I felt it would be remiss of me if I didn't make this trip, even though we've just met in June, to give my personal thanks and put on record from the Singapore Ministry of Defense, your contributions.

I think many things could have gone wrong, but because you are at the helm of Department of Defense, you did put on record that situation in Europe could have gone very differently. But you stabilized, your leadership, helped stabilize and galvanize the community against Russia. Your role in the Middle East even before you were defense minister helped us in the same region to deal with terrorism, and we knew that the threat was alive and present. And I think for the Asia Pacific, the Indo Pacific region, your leadership in strengthening partnerships help reduce tensions and adventurism.

So I wanted to say on behalf of my ministry and Singapore Armed Forces, thank you. Thank you for your able leadership and thank you for helping make our region and the world a safer place. That was the only purpose of this trip.

(LAUGHTER)

MR. AUSTIN: Mr. Ng, it's a delight to have you back in the Pentagon again, and so I look forward to a great discussion. Thanks, everybody.