Saturday, 9 July 2022, the visit to Singapore of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Hon. Luigi Di Maio.
Minister Di Maio was warmly welcomed by Singapore Foreign Minister Balakrishnan. This mission was a concrete follow-up to the talks held in Rome between the two Ministers, especially on the issue of startups: an agreement between ICE and Accelerating Asia was signed shortly thereafter at the Residence, which will allow Italian startups to undergo an acceleration process here in Singapore, as early as next autumn.
At the Residence the Minister met many of the Italian academics and researchers from Singapore’s universities. This community gives Italy great prestige: the real added value of our relations with Singapore is given by what we will be able to accomplish in the next years in the most innovative sectors.
The representatives of Comites and Italian Associations, along with the staff of the Embassy were also present.
A fruitful meeting followed with the Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), Beh Swan Gin: we believe that the opportunities offered today by our commitment to internationalization could favor the reopening of an EDB desk in Italy.
In the afternoon, the Minister, together with the CEO of Rimorchiatori Mediterranei (RMED), Matteo Coppari, briefly sailed aboard one of the LNG tugs that are part of an important strategic investment by the Italian company RMED in Singapore.
In the evening, the CEO of Gardens by the Bay, Felix Loh, welcomed the delegation and showed the Minister the spaces where some of the more than 50 events of the Italian Festival in Singapore took place, registering over 170,000 visitors between May and June. From now on Gardens by the Bay will host the Italian Festival every year in the same period.
Finally, a dinner offered by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel. The Minister, together with President Gionata Bosco, met the representatives of Italian companies which use Singapore as a platform for the whole of Southeast Asia, a rapidly growing region in which Italy deserves to play a leading role.
We are grateful to the Chamber of Commerce for including at our request the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Jane Lim. This way, it was possible for our Minister to reiterate our interest in activating the Scientific and Technological Collaboration Agreement between Italy and Singapore.
