Bangkok > News > Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker made an official visit... >
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker made an official visit to Singapore
Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, made an official visit to Singapore from 6 to 7 November 2012 at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Prime Minister Juncker was accompanied by Minister for National Education and Vocational Training Mady Delvaux-Stehres and senior government officials.
During the visit, Prime Minister Juncker delivered a public lecture entitled “ The Euro: An Asset for Europe and An Opportunity for Asia ” on 6 November as part of the IISS Fullerton Lecture series. Prime Minister Juncker also attended a reception for the Luxembourg community resident in Singapore and visit the National Orchid Garden, where an orchid hybrid was named in his honour.
During the second day of his official visit to Singapore, Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Eurogroup President, Jean-Claude Juncker, was received by the President of Singapore, Tony Tan Keng Yam at Istana.
After the national anthems and reviewing the Guard of Honour, Prime Minister Juncker and the President of Singapore met to discuss bilateral relations between Singapore and Luxembourg, relations between Singapore and the EU and the economic and financial crisis and responses to it. On the economic crisis, Prime Minister Juncker said he was optimistic. "I am convinced that the EU in general and the individual Member States will be strengthened from the crisis. We have learned our lessons" he said.
The same subjects were on the agenda of the meeting with the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong. (See photo on the left). Luxembourg's Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Mady Delvaux-Stehres, also participated in this meeting.
Prime Minister Juncker also met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Also involving the Director General of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ravi Menon, the discussions focused on bilateral financial relations and the situation in the euro area.
A gala dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Singapore ended the official programme of the visit of Prime Minister Juncker. In his speech at this event, Jean-Claude Juncker emphasised that bilateral relations are good and that contacts between representatives of the two governments are numerous. He also noted the similarities between Luxembourg and Singapore beyond just their size: "Both countries are trying to contribute positively to the development of their region. They have a significant financial sector and experienced strong immigration. In summary, there are many things we can learn from each other." Jean-Claude Juncker also said that Singapore is by far the largest trading partner of the Grand Duchy in South-East Asia, particularly in terms of services.
Information in French: http://www.gouvernement.lu/salle_presse/actualite/2012/11-novembre/06-singapour/index.html