This morning, Sputnik News reported that Russia is working to further develop partnerships with Asian countries. After China and Japan, now Russia has found a new partner in mutually beneficial copperation in the Arctic region, as Russian Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic Artur Chilingarov said Tuesday. Namely, Singapore.

The little State off southern Malaysia has been admitted as observer to the Arctic Council in May 2013 along with Asian giants China, India, Japan and South Korea. In November 2015, Singapore hosted the "Arctic Circle Forum in Singapore" a joint effort by the Arctic Circle and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI), with the support of the Singapore Government.  The forum was opened by President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore. Discussions focused on shipping, infrastructure financing, ocean science and research, and global collaboration on Arctic affairs. Among the speakers and participants were Arctic Ambassadors, representatives of major shipping companies, investment funds, and scientific institutes from the Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, and a number of European states (The Arctic Circle).

As reported by Sputnik, "the cooperation of Russia and Singapore on the Arctic research is actively developing. Partnering with them is very interesting for us. There is a negotiation process in this area. I hope that it will be successful and there will be less politics and more economic and commercial interests," Chilingarov told RIA Novosti following his Monday talks with regional authorities on the prospects of bilateral cooperation in the Arctic. "

Here is the full article:

MOSCOW/SINGAPORE (Sputnik) — Moscow considers its partnership with Singapore in the Arctic to be mutually beneficial and expects to deepen the cooperation, Russian Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic Artur Chilingarov said Tuesday.

"The cooperation of Russia and Singapore on the Arctic research is actively developing. Partnering with them is very interesting for us. There is a negotiation process in this area. I hope that it will be successful and there will be less politics and more economic and commercial interests," Chilingarov told RIA Novosti following his Monday talks with regional authorities on the prospects of bilateral cooperation in the Arctic.

The Russian explorer added that Singapore possesses the most modern technologies of construction of drilling platforms for offshore operations, including ice-class platforms, which would benefit Russia’s interests. Representatives of Russia and Singapore will meet in August at a high-level meeting of the Arctic Council’s member states, observer countries and the scientific community.

Russia unveiled a strategy to boost its presence in the Arctic, believed to hold vast oil and natural gas reserves, in 2014. The total value of energy resources concentrated in Russia's Arctic region exceeds $30 trillion, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Source: Sputnik News