Official Visit by PM Lee Hsien Loong to Vienna, Austria, and attendance at the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels, Belgium, 17 to 19 October 2018

PM Lee Hsien Loong will make an Official Visit to Vienna, Austria, on 17 October 2018, and attend the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit from 18 to 19 October 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. 

PM Lee’s visit to Austria is at the invitation of Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. PM Lee will meet and be hosted to lunch by Chancellor Kurz. The leaders will witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Area of Digitalisation and Information and Communications Technology. PM Lee will also attend a dinner with Austrian business leaders. 

In Brussels, PM Lee will attend the 12th ASEM Summit. The theme of the Summit is “Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges”. In addition, as current ASEAN Chair and Coordinator for ASEAN-EU dialogue relations, PM Lee will attend an ASEAN-EU Leaders Meeting (AELM). 

On the sidelines of the ASEM Summit, PM Lee will also sign the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. PM Lee and Presidents Tusk and Juncker will also witness the signing of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (EUSIPA) and the EU-Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (ESPCA).

PM Lee will be accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations and Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran, and officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Communications and Information. 

During PM Lee’s absence, Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong and Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be the Acting Prime Minister for the periods 17-18 October 2018 and 19-20 October 2018 respectively. 

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PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
SINGAPORE
16 OCTOBER 2018