Tharman And Anwar Reaffirm Cooperation On Food, Energy
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- Tharman Shanmugaratnam met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on July 13 during a state visit, with both leaders reaffirming the need to "deepen cooperation" on food security and energy, and underscoring adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- Tharman also met Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar the same day, where they discussed forging deeper cooperation in renewable energy and sustainable development, per Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- On July 14, Tharman visited Shah Alam and met Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Chief Minister Amirudin Shari, with talks covering technical and vocational education, climate adaptation, flood mitigation, and start-up growth.
- The Selangor Royal Office said in a Facebook post that the state could learn from Singapore's flood mitigation technology, river cleaning methods, and sustainable environmental development practices.
- At a Kuala Lumpur Business Club dinner, Tharman addressed challenges of a "post-unipolar world," called for reforming multilateralism, and urged faster ASEAN integration alongside stronger bilateral cooperation.
- Tharman is scheduled to hold a breakfast roundtable with business leaders on Wednesday before departing Malaysia in the afternoon.
Why it matters: The visit produced joint reaffirmations on UNCLOS and freedom of navigation — a notable signal given South China Sea tensions — while Tharman's "post-unipolar world" speech to the KL Business Club signals Singapore's push to keep ties with major powers while deepening ASEAN integration and bilateral links with Malaysia.
