Attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the Peruvian capital will be the main order of business, although the trip will also serve to raise Singapore's profile in the region.

It will be a packed trip for the Prime Minister with several bilateral meetings, memoranda of understanding (MOU) signings and speaking arrangements lined up.

He is scheduled to meet the presidents of the three countries he visits - President Alan Garcia of Peru, President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.

The Prime Minister is also likely to have bilateral meetings with Apec leaders away from official talks at the summit.

While in Peru, his first visit to the country, he will receive the country's highest honour - the Order of the Sun.

PM Lee's whirlwind tour then takes him to Sao Paulo in Brazil, where he will spend less than a day before zipping off to Brasilia. Among his planned commitments in the capital is to launch the Portuguese version of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs.

MM Lee's memoirs have been translated into numerous languages, including Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Hungarian and, most recently, Spanish.

PM Lee will next visit the Chilean capital of Santiago before heading home.

Two MOUs will be signed on this trip. The first will be signed with Brazil to promote cooperation in areas like microbiology, molecular biology and genetics. The second will be signed with Chile, and will facilitate exchanges in education, including having Chilean postgraduate students study in Singapore.

Throughout the trip, Mr Lee will be accompanied by Foreign Minister George Yeo, as well as officials from the Foreign and Trade and Industry ministries.

Some 14 business leaders will also be part of the delegation.

The Singapore Foreign Ministry said the bilateral visits underscore how important Singapore considers its relations with these three countries.

In recent years, Singapore has been gradually building its relations with Latin America. Total trade hit $13.4 billion last year, up 13.1 per cent from the year before.

In May, Singapore and Peru inked a free trade agreement, only the second bilateral agreement with a South American country. The first was with Panama, which came into force in 2006.

In PM Lee's absence, Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar will be the Acting Prime Minister from Thursday to Nov 28, while Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng will take over on Nov 29.

PM Lee returns to Singapore on Nov 30.