Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will arrive in Mexico today for a four-day visit at the invitation of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
During the trip, Mr Lee will meet President Lopez Obrador and top Mexican officials. He will also address the Mexican Senate and hold a dialogue with the Mexican business community.
The visit will also see Singapore and Mexico sign a number of memoranda of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in areas such as science and technology, water resources, culture, industrial property, and international development, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement yesterday.
For instance, an MOU between Singapore's Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and its Mexican counterpart will facilitate technical exchanges and capacity building in water management, in areas such as desalination, water reclamation and reuse.
Another agreement between public-sector research agency A*Star and Mexico's Centre for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute will promote joint research projects and the exchange of researchers.
PM Lee's visit will be the first by a Singapore Prime Minister in 22 years, following Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's visit in 1997 when the two countries signed a joint declaration that paved the way for negotiations towards a Singapore-Mexico Free Trade Agreement.
Bilateral trade between Singapore and Mexico - both signatories to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership - amounted to $4.7 billion last year, making Mexico the Republic's second-largest trading partner in Latin America after Panama. Trade volume for 2019 is projected to grow for the third year in a row, and is on track to exceed $5 billion.
Mr Lee will be accompanied on the visit by Mrs Lee, Senior Minister of State for Defence and for Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, and Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and for Education Chee Hong Tat, along with officials from the PMO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Enterprise Singapore, as well as a delegation of business leaders.
In PM Lee's absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will be the Acting Prime Minister.
