We certainly need to build on the sound
foundations of political and diplomatic capital that
currently exist between the two countries. But as
founding members of Asean and part of the
greater Asia Pacific region, we also have strong
mutual regional interests and we should
endeavour to make our bilateral relationship one
of the pillars of strength within Asean. Thus, we
do not work in isolation but leverage our
partnership so that it contributes to the realisation
of the Asean 2015 community building efforts.