French President Macron arrives in Singapore; to exchange agreements on defence, AI
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SINGAPORE – France and Singapore will exchange agreements to cooperate in areas including defence and security, law, artificial intelligence and transport during a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Macron will be in Singapore on May 29 and 30. On the second day, he will deliver the keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue,
On the first night of his visit, Mr Macron went to Lau Pa Sat in the Central Business District with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, along with both their spouses.
The two couples walked through the food centre, where they were greeted by swarms of diners.
Stopping for photos along the way, PM Wong and Mr Macron also paused to sample some local food – chee cheong fun and char kway teow.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and French President Emmanuel Macron greet each other before taking a tour of Lau Pa Sat on May 29.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
This followed a dinner hosted by PM Wong and his wife.
This is the third leg of a South-east Asian tour by Mr Macron. He arrived from Indonesia,
On May 30, Mr Macron will receive a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House, where he will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and attend a state banquet hosted by Mr Tharman in honour of him and his wife.
He will also meet again with PM Wong, who is also Finance Minister, and they will together witness the exchange of the memorandums of understanding on the areas of cooperation.
The state visit commemorates 60 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and France, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on May 29.
Mr Macron is accompanied by French leaders including Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Eric Lombard; Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu; Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot; Minister of Culture Rachida Dati; and Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz.
