SINGAPORE - Russia's President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Singapore on Tuesday (Nov 13) for his first-ever state visit, will be hosted to a state banquet at the Istana.
He earlier attended a ground-breaking ceremony for the Russian Cultural Centre that will also house a Russian Orthodox Church.
Mr Putin's two-day state visit comes as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties between Singapore and Russia.
The last top Russian leader to visit Singapore was then President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009.
Cultural, education and scientific ties between the two nations have since grown strongly. Bilateral trade stood at S$7.4 billion in 2017, up from S$1.9 billion in 2007.
There are 690 Russian companies in Singapore as of 2017. Russia is Singapore's 24th largest trading partner.
Mr Putin was on Tuesday officially welcomed at the Istana, and he later called on President Halimah Yacob.
Mr Putin and Madam Halimah in the late afternoon co-officiated the ground-breaking ceremony of the new cultural centre in Rangoon Road, near Little India.
The state banquet in Mr Putin's honour will be hosted by President Halimah.
During this state visit, Mr Putin will also be attending the 3rd Asean-Russian Summit and the 13th East Asia Summit.
Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we reported that the last top Russian leader to visit Singapore was then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2009. Mr Medvedev was the President at the time. We are sorry for the error.
