A statement by Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed satisfaction with the positive state of bilateral relations.
The meeting on Tuesday comes two years after the last Leaders' Retreat in Singapore in 2010.
MFA said Prime Minister Lee and President Yudhoyono noted the good progress made by the seven Working Groups that were established at the May 2010 Retreat to further cooperation in the areas of Batam, Bintan and Karimun (BBK) and other Special Economic Zones (SEZs); investments; tourism; air connectivity; manpower; agri-business; and counter-terrorism cooperation.
MFA said the leaders agreed both countries should deepen economic cooperation.
In particular, they agreed to build on the longstanding collaboration in the BBK Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to leverage on the strong complementarities between the two economies.
In this regard, the leaders tasked the Working Group on BBK and other SEZs to look into issues that will help enhance their competitiveness.
The leaders also noted the strong investment links between Singapore and Indonesia.
Singapore has been the top foreign investor in Indonesia for three consecutive years, with investments amounting to US$5.1 billion in 2011.
Prime Minister Lee welcomed the relevant Indonesian agencies to engage Singapore's private sector on Indonesia's Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development.
The leaders also encouraged the Working Group on Air Connectivity to come to a win-win outcome on the expansion of air services between the two countries.
Mr Lee said that air passengers are growing rapidly in volume but the capacity is not growing enough, "so we need a more ambitious air services agreement so we can have more flights - regular flights as well as the low-cost carrier flights - and that is something we have to work on."
"The officials have been talking. They have not reached an agreement and I made the point to the President (Yudhoyono) and his ministers that if you want to promote tourism, this is the best way to do (it), because, really, the constraint is the flights. And to get the flights improved, we have to get a more ambitious Air Services Agreement and eventually, we really should be aiming towards an open skies (agreement) between Singapore and Indonesia, which is ASEAN's ideal," added Mr Lee.
Freeing up more air rights will also generate greater economic benefits for both countries.
Mr Lee said another area to improve is the investment climate within the BBK economic zone, which has seen several industrial skirmishes over issues like labour and wages lately.
During the retreat, Prime Minister Lee and President Yudhoyono also witnessed the signing of two new Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).
The MOU on Civil Service Training between the Singapore Civil Service College (CSC) and Indonesia's National Institute of Public Administration encourages and promotes cooperation in the capacity building of public officials through exchanges and other joint activities in areas such as public governance and leadership, public administration, and public service development.
Meanwhile, the MOU on Education Cooperation between the Singapore Ministry of Education and Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture covers student exchange programmes with the aim of building stronger bonds between the youth of both countries and promoting greater understanding of culture, sports, community and languages.
It also includes exchanges between teachers and exchanges between the two Education Ministries to share information on education systems, and the renewal of a Youth and Sports Cooperation Agreement - signed in 1988 - which will see exchanges in areas such as training and research.
On the outstanding Extradition Treaty (ET) and Defence Cooperation (DC) Agreement package, Mr Lee said the decision is to put it aside until Indonesia is ready to pursue the matter.
He said: "The President mentioned it as one of those areas where there are misperceptions on both sides. He said there are misperceptions among the population which the government needs to work on to overcome and I said, yes, this was something we signed and then after that it was not possible to follow through and ratify it. So we have put it aside for the time being until it is a politically more convenient time and when Indonesia is ready to pursue the matter, Singapore is ready to listen."
The idyllic setting of Bogor for the Leaders' Retreat has a rich history. It was once inhabited by Sir Stamford Raffles before he went to Singapore. Bogor was also the place for the 1994 APEC Summit where the Bogor Goals were conceived.
President Yudhoyono said he hopes the same Bogor spirit will translate to better cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia.
- CNA/ms
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