SINGAPORE - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be in Singapore for a working visit on Tuesday (June 14) and Wednesday, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday.
This is his first trip to Asia since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and he will be heading to Indonesia after Singapore.
The ministry said Dr Steinmeier's visit reflects the strong ties between Singapore and Germany as long-standing and like-minded partners.
This is his second visit to Singapore as German president. His first was in 2017. President Halimah Yacob made a state visit to Germany in December 2019.
During his visit, Dr Steinmeier will pay a courtesy call on President Halimah, who will host a lunch.
He will also meet Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also Finance Minister. Mr Wong is Acting Prime Minister this week while Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is on leave.
Dr Steinmeier will meet Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and attend a roundtable discussion with business representatives and Transport Minister and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S. Iswaran.
He will be accompanied by German Federal Foreign Office Minister of State Anna Luhrmann, parliamentarians, senior officials, and business representatives.
His schedule in the next two days includes a visit to TUM Asia, the first subsidiary of the Technical University Munich (TUM) that was founded in 2002 here.
TUM is one of Europe's leading technical universities.
Dr Steinmeier will also meet students of the German European School Singapore, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
In a media release by the German Embassy Singapore on Monday, Dr Steinmeier said that the Indo-Pacific region remains a priority for his country.
"The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has underlined once again that we have to avoid unilateral dependencies, expand our partnerships and diversify our supply chains," he said.
He noted that Singapore took a very clear stance following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
He added: "We are strongly aligned with Singapore in our commitment to preserving and strengthening the rules-based international order.
"My trip is meant to express our appreciation and that despite all difficulties we face in Europe, we stand with our partners to defend the multilateral order - in Europe as well as in Asia."
