Press Advisories

14. 1. 2019 15:25

Prime Minister Andrej Babis started his one-week trip to Asia In Singapore, he met with the President and the Prime Minister

Prime Ministers Andrej Babiš and Lee Hsien Loong at the Presidential Palace, January 14, 2019.
Prime Ministers Andrej Babiš and Lee Hsien Loong at the Presidential Palace, January 14, 2019.
On Sunday, 13 January 2019, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš started his one-week trip to Asia First he visited the Republic of Singapore, where he met with President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, 14 January 2019. They discussed trade cooperation, science, research and education, and defence cooperation opportunities.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, together with the members of the business delegation, arrived in Singapore in the afternoon, local time. His first stop was in the presidential palace, where he was officially welcomed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. The prime minister then met with the Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The two Prime Ministers held bilateral talks mainly on business cooperation.           

“I am truly impressed by Singapore, because it is ten times smaller than the Czech Republic, has half the population, but it is de facto the world’s leader in terms of GDP per capita. After I arrive back home, I will propose to the Foreign Minister to open a Czech embassy in Singapore. This is the place where business is done, it’s the gateway to Asia, and we are not part of it. The resident ambassador to Indonesia comes here from Jakarta three times a year, and that is definitely not enough”, said Prime Minister Babiš.

Both Prime Ministers also discussed opportunities for defence cooperation. The Czech Prime Minister has assured the Singaporean Prime Minister that Czech companies can offer state-of-the-art technologies for example in IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology, medical technology, e-commerce, but also in the defence industry.

In addition to business issues, they touched on science, research and education. “At the meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Havlíček presented our science and research project. We offered the Singaporean Prime Minister to appoint a representative from Singapore to our International Science and Research Council, which he found quite interesting and I suppose that could happen”, said Andrej Babiš.

The all-day program ended with a gala dinner held at the presidential palace by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loonge, also attended by Marta Nováková, Minister of Industry and Trade, and the members of the business delegation.

Singapore is one of the world’s most advanced economies and is the gateway to Southeast Asian markets. In March 2016, CzechTrade opened a new foreign office in Singapore. In 2017, Czech exports exceeded USD 300 million. In 2018, the European Union and Singapore signed a free trade agreement and an investment protection agreement.

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