Sixty activities and multiple platforms for cooperation - all in 11 months.

Singapore and France marked their joint Year of Innovation with much to show and there will be more to come, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean said on Tuesday (Dec 4).

Speaking in Paris at an event to mark the close of the collaboration, which began in January, Mr Teo said: "France and Singapore are... natural partners in innovation. We are both acutely aware of the transformative power of innovation."

"I am happy that there have been three concrete outcomes from this busy year, namely New Players, New Platforms and New Perspectives," he told an audience which included Madam Frederique Vidal, the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, as well as members of the French Parliament.

He cited as examples Mr Cedric Villani, author of the French strategy on artificial intelligence, who spoke at the Singapore-France AI Workshop in June, the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology, and the establishment of the French Lab Singapore to strengthen interactions between French and Singapore researchers.

Mr Teo said the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement, signed in October, would open greater market access in innovation-related fields for companies in France, Singapore, the European Union and Asean.

"We look forward to its ratification soon by the European Parliament," he said.