Moon visits Singapore for economic cooperation
By Kim Rahn
President Moon Jae-in
President Moon Jae-in is visiting Singapore to seek improvements in bilateral relations with the country and cooperation with ASEAN members.
He arrived in Singapore, Wednesday evening, for a three-day visit following a trip to India.
This is the first state visit of a Korean president in 15 years, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
On Thursday Moon will meet Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and have a summit with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. After the talks, Moon and Lee will hold a joint press conference to announce their outcome.
Singapore is one of the key nations in Moon's New Southern Policy, which seeks more economic cooperation and exchanges with Southeast Asia and India, to expand Korea's diplomatic horizons beyond the four major nations surrounding the Korean Peninsula ― the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The country is also the chair of ASEAN this year.
“Moon will seek cooperation with Singapore in the high-tech industry and finance,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said before the trip. “The two nations can cooperate in the biotechnology, medical and fintech sectors, and the development of smart cities in Southeast Asia.”
Besides economic issues, Moon is expected to express gratitude to the Singaporean government for its efforts to successfully host the Washington-Pyongyang summit last month.
Singapore will also present Moon an orchid named after him. The country grows a specific species of orchid to name after a foreign leader, and offers the plant to the leader as a gift. Moon will be the first Korean president to have such an orchid.
He will also meet business leaders of the two nations at a business forum in the evening, presenting a vision for economic cooperation in a keynote speech.
The next day Moon will give a lecture to about 400 opinion leaders of the country, ranging from politicians, government officials and businesspeople to scholars and journalist.
“He will introduce his New Southern Policy, but will also talk about how Korea's economic cooperation with ASEAN can be linked to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, and how the peninsula's prosperity will be linked to that of Asia as a whole,” the official said.
Moon will meet Korean residents in the country over lunch before returning home.