Australia invites Singapore to take part in New Colombo Plan

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has invited Singapore to take part in its pilot New Colombo Plan, which aims to foster closer education links and deepen its ties with Asia, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Bishop, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the afternoon and was hosted to dinner by Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam.

"Both Prime Minister Lee and Minister Shanmugam warmly welcomed Australia's proposal for Singapore to participate in the pilot program," the ministry said in a statement.

The New Colombo Plan is an initiative of Australia's new government to lift knowledge of the Indian Ocean Asia Pacific in Australia and strengthen people-to-people and institutional relationships, through study and internships undertaken by Australian undergraduate students in the region.

Bishop has said that the plan is intended to transform and deepen the relations and make study in the Indo-Pacific a rite of passage for Australian students over time.

It will commence in 2015, after a pilot phase in 2014. Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and China's Hong Kong are being invited to participate in the pilot phase. Other regional partners will be invited to join the program from 2015.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Bishop briefed Lee and Shanmugam on the priorities and programs of Australia's new government. She noted that Singapore and Australia shared similar strategic perspectives.

She also reaffirmed her government's commitment to strengthening and deepening the already excellent relations between the two countries.

Singapore was the fourth largest investor in Australia and Australia's fifth largest global trading partner in 2012.