The 13th session of the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum (ADSJF) was held virtually on Monday under the co-chairmanship and in attendance of, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the executive affairs authority of Abu Dhabi, and S. Iswaran, minister-in-charge of trade relations. Ambassadors of both countries were also present, in addition to officials and senior representatives from a number of key public and private entities in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. During the session, the Co-Chairs reaffirmed the strong bilateral relations between the UAE and Singapore. Both parties also expressed interest in exploring collaboration in mutual areas of strategic importance, including technology, innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), space technologies, and public sector partnerships. As part of this session of the Joint Forum, the UAE Space Agency and Singapore's national space office, the Office for Space Technology and Industry (OSTIn) signed a Letter of Intent signaling their shared interest to collaborate in the areas of space technologies, space law and policies, as well as human capital development. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed by the Abu Dhabi School of Government and the Civil Service College Singapore to facilitate greater and more in-depth exchanges between the public sectors of Singapore and Abu Dhabi. This knowledge and experience initiative will focus on current and emerging topics such as public sector leadership, governance, public administration and management, digital literacy, and well-being. For more than 35 years, the UAE and Singapore have enjoyed a productive and positive bilateral relationship anchored by active trade and investment. To broaden cooperation, the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum was established in 2007 as part of a joint commitment between both countries to explore mutual areas of strategic interest. Further to this agreement, in 2019, the two governments established a Joint Declaration on a Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership, articulating both countries' ambition to deepen existing areas of cooperation and explore new sectors, including political exchanges, trade, industry & investment, financial cooperation, sustainable development and energy, education & human resource development, and health. — WAM
