PM Lee Hsien Loong at launch of Commemorative Notes for 50th Anniversary of Currency Interchangeability Agreement

Your Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies and distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

May I welcome Your Majesty to Singapore to commemorate the 50th anniversary of our Currency Interchangeability Agreement. Brunei is an old friend of Singapore. We have a strong and special friendship, underpinned by close personal ties and frequent high-level exchanges.

The Currency Interchangeability Agreement is a hallmark of our longstanding and unique relationship. This policy of freely convertible currencies has benefitted both our economies and our peoples. It has eliminated foreign exchange risks, minimised transaction costs and facilitated the growth of trade and investment.

Singapore is one of Brunei’s top 10 trading partners, and our total bilateral trade last year was more than a billion dollars. Investments too have grown and flowed in fast developing areas. For example there is a Brunei-Singapore joint venture which recently invested $20 million in a high-tech vertical aquaculture farm, the first in Brunei. Visitor traffic and spending from both countries are also growing. Therefore I am very happy today to launch the 50th anniversary commemorative notes with Your Majesty.

I remember visiting Brunei ten years ago, in 2007, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Currency Interchangeability Agreement. In that year we also issued commemorative notes, two $20 bills. Those limited edition special notes became highly sought-after collectors’ items. When you go to the market and buy things, you never get them exchanged.  And since then in the last ten years, bilateral flow of Brunei and Singapore dollars has doubled which means there must have been more visits, more business, more shopping and more prosperity.

The Currency Interchangeability Agreement is a hallmark of our longstanding and unique relationship.

PM Lee

I remember when I visited Brunei that time in 2007, Your Majesty took me on a morning walk around the Jerudong Park Golf Course. Your Majesty walked so briskly that I had to try very hard to keep up! Now it is my turn to host the commemorative event, and I hope you will have an equally happy and memorable visit.

We will be issuing two commemorative $50 bills to mark this 50th anniversary. The design on the back of the notes which you saw just now reflects our close cooperation in areas like defence, education and tourism. The front of the notes will include the 50th anniversary logo of the Agreement, which features the Simpur, a yellow, beautiful flower found in Brunei, and the Vanda Miss Joaquim, our national flower, the orchid.

I am sure these commemorative notes would be as popular and be picked up as quickly as the ones which we launched last time. Because last time it was $20, this time it is $50. I think our monetary authority and the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam will smile a little bit more.

We will be celebrating many more milestone anniversaries of our Currency Interchangeability Agreement. But what face value should the commemorative notes be the next time, when we reach our 60th, or 70th or 75th anniversary? You do not often have a $60 bill, but I think that is an idea for our officials to think about. I am sure they have ten years to solve this problem, and that will help our relationship and friendship to endure and continue to blossom for many years to come. Thank you very much.