Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the island republic would like to develop closer relations with East Malaysia, including Sabah.

"A lot of business can be done between Sabah and Singapore" he said during a courtesy call by Sabah delegation led by Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman at the Istana on Wednesday.

Lee said the last time he was in Sabah was in 1984 and he would like to return for another visit soon.

Meanwhile, Musa said Sabah could learn a lot from Singapore in terms of economic diversification, human resource development and city planning.

"Singapore has achieved successes in numerous fields and we can benefit from their story" he said.

He said Sabah was diversifying its own economy from being primarily timber based to service based like tourism because the State has high touristic value.

"We hope this visit will further strengthen ties and potential areas of business cooperation between Singapore and Sabah" said Musa who is on a two-day working visit to Singapore.

Earlier the delegation had a luncheon meeting with Singapore Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman at the latter's office.

Mohamad extended his appreciation to the Sabah State government for the assistance extended during the tragic 2015 earthquake in Sabah that took the lives of-of several climbers on Mount Kinabalu including schoolchildren from Singapore.

Musa expressed his sympathy towards the families of those who perished and said the authorities, including the mountain guides, did their level best to rescue the victims.

Among those in the delegation were Minister of Infrastructure development Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Minister of Industrial Development Datuk Seri Panglima Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Seri Panglima Teo Chee Kang and State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman.