President Tan, PM Lee and other leaders send congrats to French President-elect Emmanuel Macron

President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have written to French President-elect Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him on his electoral victory.

In his letter to Mr Macron, Dr Tan noted that France and Singapore have excellent bilateral relations, with the two countries enjoying "strong and mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, research and development, and culture and education".

He underlined the strong people-to-people ties between the two countries, with Singapore hosting one of the largest communities of French nationals in Asia.

"I look forward to working together with you to further strengthen relations between our two countries and peoples," he wrote, extending an invitation for Mr Macron to visit Singapore.

In his letter, Prime Minister Lee expressed confidence that France would "emerge stronger" under Mr Macron's leadership.

He too noted the multi-faceted and longstanding partnership between the two countries, which led to the Singapore-France Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership being signed in 2012.

He also highlighted the Joint Declaration on Innovation recently issued in March this year, which paved the way for stronger collaboration in new areas. "I wish you good health and every success, and look forward to meeting you soon," wrote Mr Lee, adding that Singapore looks forward to the ratification of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Other world leaders have also congratulated Mr Macron. US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him!"

British Prime Minister Theresa May tweeted: "I warmly congratulate @EmmanuelMacron on his success and look forward to working with him on a wide range of shared priorities."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also ecstatic.

"He carries the hopes of millions of French people, and of many people in Germany and the whole of Europe," she told a news conference.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 09, 2017, with the headline President Tan, PM Lee and other leaders send congrats to French President-elect Emmanuel Macron. Subscribe