Prince of Brunei Abdul Mateen is in Singapore for his first official visit under the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship (LKYEF) from Sep. 11 to 14.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and LKYEF chairman Lee Tzu Yang hosted the prince to dinner on Sep. 12.

"Delighted" to host the prince, Vivian said in his Facebook post that Mateen's visit has reaffirmed the "unique and historic partnership" between Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

Met PM Lee and other Singapore ministers as well

The prince has also been meeting several ministers in his briefings and site visits relating to areas such as economic transformation, urban planning, education, defence, sustainable development, and entrepreneurship.

The prince would also be meeting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Education Maliki Osman.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Mateen (@tmski)

The 32-year-old prince is the fourth son of Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and sixth in line to the throne. 

The prince last visited Singapore last year during the 2022 Formula 1 (F1) Singapore Grand Prix.

Singapore and Brunei enjoy a "longstanding and special relationship" since 1984.

Earlier this year, Wong made his first official overseas trip to Brunei in January 2023.

Last year in August 2022, Bolkiah visited Singapore in his fifth state visit here and two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed during that visit.

Established in 1991, the LKYEF invites outstanding individuals for high-level visits to Singapore, who are chosen based on their track records and extraordinary potential to contribute to their nations and bilateral relationships with Singapore.

Mateen is the 75th LKYEF Fellow and the sixth from Brunei.

Related story

Top image from tmski/Instagram.