His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah binti Pengiran Haji Salleh Ab Rahaman, yesterday afternoon left Singapore after concluding the 8th Young Leaders’ Programme from August 3-5.
Accompanying Their Royal Highnesses were Yang Teramat Mulia Pengiran Anak Muneerah Madhul Bolkiah, Yang Teramat Mulia Pengiran Muda Muhammad Aiman and Yang Teramat Mulia Pengiran Anak Faathimah Az-Zahraa’ Raihaanul Bolkiah.
Begawan Pehin Khatib Dato Paduka Haji Awang Hamidon bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Hamid recited Doa Selamat prior to departure.
Present at the VIP Complex, Changi International Airport to bid farewell to Their Royal Highnesses were Singaporean Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman as Minister-in-Attendance and Saadiah Shahal as Lady-in-Attendance.
Bruneian High Commissioner to Singapore Dato Paduka Haji Sidek bin Ali, Singaporean High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Heng Aik Yeow as well as their spouses were also present to bid farewell to Their Royal Highnesses.
Hosted alternately by Brunei and Singapore, the Young Leaders’ Programme is a platform to exchange skills and experiences between the two countries.
During the 8th edition of the programme, His Royal Highness’ meetings with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong including several Cabinet ministers from Singapore resulted in successful outcomes through a series of information sharing sessions that emphasised three main areas – education, civil service and defence.
Matters that were agreed upon include introducing scholarships for excellent students from the Sultanate to pursue their studies at the secondary level to higher education in Singapore; to establish a training programme for Bruneian civil servants through work placements in Singaporean government agencies; and knowledge sharing on technological developments and whole-of-government (WOG) approaches to strengthen maritime and regional security.
Their Royal Highnesses’ visit to Singapore also further strengthened and enhanced the long-standing and special bilateral relations between the two nations.
