Distinguished Service Order is one of Singapore's top national honors, which is given to public servants, community, and leaders from Singapore or other countries for their contributions to the country over the years.
The award was presented by the President of Singapore, Halimah Yakob, to Pandjaitan at the Singapore Palace on Monday, the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore informed in a statement released on Monday.
Pandjaitan, who served as Indonesia’s Ambassador to Singapore from 1999–2000, has been given the accolade because he is considered to have made major contributions to deepening the relationship between Indonesia and Singapore.
He can finalize agreements between Indonesia and Singapore on the issue of the flight information region (FIR), defense cooperation agreement, and extradition treaty, Director General for Southeast Asia at Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry Chaterine Wong informed while reading out the reasons for Pandjaitan's recognition.
According to Wong, the realization of those agreements, which had been postponed for 16 years, was of great benefit in strengthening the cooperation between the two countries.
During the meeting with the Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong, Pandjaitan expressed his gratitude for the order.
He invited Singapore to deepen cooperation with Indonesia, including in reducing emissions.
"Indonesia and Singapore can take initiative for us to work together such as in realizing the global finance alliance to reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide),” Pandjaitan added.
He said that there are many projects that can be conducted soon by Indonesia and Singapore.
Meanwhile, Wong expressed his support for Pandjaitan's ideas and said that he hoped the representatives from the two countries would sit together to formulate steps that can be handled promptly.
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Reporter: Shofi Ayudiana
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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