Singapore and Indonesia will discuss a "reciprocal green lane" to allow essential travel to gradually resume.

This was revealed by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a statement on Aug. 25.

The statement also said that Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi agreed that both countries should work closely together.

The cooperation between two sides is to strengthen public health cooperation, enhance economic growth and investments, deepen financial cooperation and facilitate safe travel.

"Given the strong business links between Singapore and Indonesia, the two foreign ministers tasked the officials to begin discussions on a 'reciprocal green lane' to allow for essential travel to gradually resume in a manner that would safeguard public health and safety in both countries," the ministry said.

Singapore visit

Marsudi is on a visit to Singapore from Aug. 24 to 26.

She was hosted to lunch by Vivian and she also paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Aug. 25.

PM Lee and Marsudi reaffirmed "the excellent relations" between both countries.

They discussed how Singapore and Indonesia can continue to work together to overcome common challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and encouraged further bilateral discussions between the officials, MFA said.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Vivian wrote: "As close neighbours, Singapore and Indonesia have cooperated well to tackle the common challenges brought about by Covid-19 over the past few months."

"Given the extensive people-to-people and business links between our countries, we agreed that officials can start exploring how to safely resume essential official and business travel, with comprehensive safeguards in place to protect the health of our people."

Top photo via Vivian Balakrishnan