SINGAPORE: French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in Singapore on Thursday (May 29) for a two-day state visit.
The visit will commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and France, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
This will be the third and final stop of his Southeast Asia tour, which earlier saw him visit Vietnam and Indonesia.
During his visit, the French president will be received in a welcome ceremony at Parliament House on Friday, and meet with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. A state banquet will take place in honour of Mr Macron and his wife, Mrs Brigitte Macron.
Mr Macron will also meet Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on Friday, where the two will witness the exchange of several memorandums of understanding that include cooperation in areas such as defence and security, legal matters, artificial intelligence and transport, amongst others.
Ahead of these engagements, Mr Wong will host a dinner on Thursday to welcome the French president.
During a meeting in April 2024, Mr Wong and Mr Macron agreed to continue working towards upgrading the relationship between Singapore and France to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
In a statement at the time, MFA said: “The upgrade to a CSP reflects the multifaceted cooperation between both countries and the joint desire to develop a forward-looking framework for cooperation in new sectors like the digital economy.”
While in Singapore, Mr Macron will also deliver the keynote speech at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest forum on security and defence.
Mr and Mrs Macron will be accompanied by France’s Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Eric Lombard, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, Minister Delegate for AI and Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz, and several senior French officials.
During Mr Macron’s first formal visit to Vietnam, France and Vietnam signed deals for 20 Airbus planes and cooperation on nuclear energy, among other pacts.
On his trip to Indonesia after, France and Indonesia signed a preliminary agreement that could lead to new orders of French military equipment such as Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene submarines.
