His Excellency Kikawada Hitoshi, Minister of State for Policies Related to Children, Declining Birthrate, Youth Empowerment, and Gender Equality,
Ladies and gentlemen,
1 Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be in Tokyo to sign the Memorandum of Cooperation on Family and Children’s Development between Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development and Japan’s Children and Families Agency. I would like to first thank His Excellency and the Children and Families Agency for the excellent arrangements and warm hospitality for this signing. We just had a fruitful bilateral meeting on how both sides could work together to operationalise the MOC moving forward. I am excited about the prospect of our cooperation on mutual exchanges as well as sharing of best practices and research to promote the holistic development of families and children. I believe that it will be mutually beneficial to our two countries.
2 The MOC is especially significant as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Japan. It is an example of how our two countries share a longstanding and strong relationship that has evolved significantly over the past six decades, particularly in the people-to-people field.
3 My visit comes on the heels of frequent high-level exchanges to date, with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s first Official Visit to Japan in March, and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung’s visit to Tokyo in June for the Nikkei Conference. We also received visits from Japan–Singapore Parliamentary Friendship League Chair Kono Taro and Minister-in-Charge of a Society of Well-Ordered and Harmonious Coexistence with Foreign Nationals and Minister-in-Charge of Economic Security Onoda Kimi. The healthy exchange of high-level visits augurs well for our close and substantive bilateral relations.
4 As small, advanced societies, both Japan and Singapore share many of the same pressures, including an ageing population, low birth rates, and a shrinking social work and caregiving workforce. Japan has been navigating these realities longer and at greater scale than Singapore, and there is much we can learn from Japan in these and other areas. I look forward to our cooperation through the MOC not just on the traditional aspects of family and children’s development, but also on the incorporation of technology, whether in service integration, digital case management, or the use of AI to support frontline social work. Thank you.