Western Australian (WA) Premier Roger Cook has travelled to Indonesia and Singapore as part of his first overseas mission following the State Election.

 The mission saw the Premier meeting with senior government and industry stakeholders in Surabaya and Singapore.

 The mission was also an opportunity to celebrate anniversaries with two of WA's key trading partners, with 2025 marking 35 years of sister-state relations between WA and East Java and 60 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Singapore. 

Goal! Celebrating sister-state relations in East Java

On his first stop in the Indonesian province of East Java, the Premier met with East Java Vice Governor Dr Emil Dardak to discuss future opportunities across international education and the creative industries.

The Premier also participated in a roundtable with the Indonesia Australia Business Council East Java Chapter and leading businesses from the province.

Premier Cook took the time to meet and kick a few goals at a training session with Indonesian soccer powerhouse Persebaya Surabaya Football Club (FC). 

 Persebaya FC will be heading to Perth in July, along with 100 loyal supporters in tow, to play the WA Men’s State Team in a special FIFA-sanctioned exhibition match.

Taking place on 9 July at the Sam Kerr Football Centre, the match will be televised live in Indonesia and forms part of ongoing anniversary celebrations taking place this year marking 35 years of the WA-East Java sister-state relationship.

The mission in Indonesia came to an end with a dinner hosted by Australia's Consul-General in Surabaya featuring local businesses that are seeing strong growth in East Java, from WA favourite Corica Pastries to stainless steel distributors Simply Stainless and biotech company Uluu, the winner of not just one, but two award categories in the 2024 Western Australian Innovators of the Year and winner of the 2025 SXSW Innovation Award for Sustainability in Austin, Texas. 

High-energy discussions in Singapore

On the second and final stop of the mission, Premier Cook lead a high-level roundtable on the energy transition and decarbonisation with local government and industry stakeholders. 

The roundtable aimed to:

• strengthen trade and investment ties between WA and Singapore;
• highlight WA’s progress toward net zero and its commitment to supporting the energy transition and energy security of Singapore and other key partners; and
• gain insights into Singaporean government and industry perspectives on decarbonisation.

Hosted by the Invest and Trade WA Singapore Office and co-organised by the Australian Chamber of Commerce Singapore, the roundtable brought together 30 senior representatives from seven Australian and Singaporean government and government-funded organisations, including the Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, along with 10 leading companies across energy, resources and telecommunications with strong links to WA.

 During the discussion, the Premier and participants delved into two key topics:

• How are WA and Singapore positioning themselves for the renewable energy transition?
• What are the opportunities (and potential challenges) for collaboration between WA and Singapore in the energy transition?

This engagement took place in the same week that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong met to reaffirm their commitment to strengthening economic and security cooperation between the two countries.

 WA plays a vital role in this strategic partnership, underpinned by strong trade ties and significant opportunities for Singaporean investment, particularly in the clean energy sector.

The roundtable successfully reinforced WA’s position as a renewable energy powerhouse and a reliable partner to Singapore on its net zero journey.

 Organisations in attendance (in alphabetical order):

• Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), Singapore 
• Ampol 
• Australian High Commission, Singapore 
• Australian Trade & Investment Commission (Austrade), Singapore 
• BHP 
• Enterprise Singapore 
• Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation 
• Keppel Infrastructure 
• Maritime and Port Authority, Singapore 
• Meranti Green Steel 
• Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore 
• Rio Tinto 
• Sembcorp 
• Shell 
• Singtel 
• ST Telemedia 
• Woodside Energy 

Cheers to 60 years of Australia-Singapore friendship

While in Singapore, the Premier took the opportunity to raise a toast to 60 years of Australia-Singapore diplomatic relations, with a unique WA-Singaporean pink ginger beer.

Presented by the Australian High Commission, the customised drink was developed specially for the Australian-Singaporean 60th anniversary as part of a collaboration between WA's Spinifex Brewing Co. and Singapore's Specific Gravity Beverage Co.

The fruity, hand-crafted pink ginger beer is infused with rosella sourced from WA.

The beer's packaging also features a unique WA First Nations touch with artwork by award-winning First Nations artist Jessica Begg, a proud Yued Noongar descendant from Moora, WA.

Ms Begg's artwork - titled Bunji, which means 'friend' or 'mate' in Noongar language - draws inspiration from the vibrant colours of Singapore's national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim, and reflects the deep connection between Australia and Singapore forged through six decades of trade, investment, defence, science, innovation, education, and the arts, digital and green economies. 

Spinifex Brewing is a First Nations-led business based in Western Australia which incorporates native bush foods in their beer, including this special edition of pink ginger beer created for the Australia-Singapore's 60th anniversary. The brewery was also a recipient of the WA Government's Investment Attraction Fund with Premier Cook opening their Cable Beach Brewery in 2023. 

 To learn more the Invest and Trade WA presence in the ASEAN region, visit the Invest and Trade WA ASEAN Hub webpage. 

Published on: 28 May 2025