Programme for State Visit to Singapore

The Government will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard, Minister for Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson, State Secretary Håkan Jevrell from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and State Secretary Miriam Söderström from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Around 50 Swedish companies, government agencies and higher education institutions will take part in the business delegation arranged by Business Sweden.

The aim of the State Visit is to consolidate and develop the good relations between Sweden and Singapore and strengthen economic and political ties, focusing on trade, innovation, investment and green transition.

Please note that the programme is subject to change.

Tuesday 19 November

Official welcoming ceremony and bilateral meeting

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife, First Lady Jane Yumiko Ittogi, will receive the King and Queen in an official welcoming ceremony at the Parliament of Singapore. At the ceremony, The King and President Shanmugaratnam will inspect the guard of honour, and the national anthems will be performed. Then The King will sign a guest book and the official delegations will be presented. 

The President will then receive The King for bilateral talks, which will also be attended by Ms Malmer Stenergard, Mr Carlson, Mr Jevrell and Ms Söderström.
President of the Republic of Singapore
Parliament of Singapore

Orchid naming ceremony, Singapore Botanic Gardens

The King and Queen will take part in an orchid naming ceremony at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. In accordance with Singaporean tradition, a special hybrid orchid is produced and named after high-level visitors.  Ms Malmer Stenergard, Mr Carlson, Mr Jevrell and Ms Söderström will also attend the ceremony. Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 165-year-old tropical garden on the outskirts of the Orchard Road shopping district. It is one of just three gardens – and the only tropical garden – on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Singapore Botanic Gardens

Lunch

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife, Ms Ho Ching, will host a lunch for The King and Queen. 

Marina Bay Sands

At the top of the Marina Bay Sands resort, with panoramic views of the city and the Singapore Strait, The King and Queen will receive a presentation of Singapore's history, geography and significance to global trade. Ms Malmer Stenergard and Ms Söderström will also attend.

Marina Barrage

The King and Queen, Ms Malmer Stenergard and the state secretaries will then visit the Marina Barrage dam for a presentation and discussions on sustainability, with a focus on water issues. The Marina Barrage dam was constructed to help increase Singapore’s water self-sufficiency and enable water storage and flood controls, and as a leisure facility.
Marina Barrage

State Banquet

The President and First Lady will host a State Banquet in honour of The King and Queen at the Raffles Hotel.

Wednesday 20 November

Singapore–Sweden Royal Business Forum

Wednesday’s programme will begin with the Singapore–Sweden Royal Business Forum. Around 300 participants from the business sector, government agencies and academia will gather to discuss energy transfer, sustainable transport solutions, health and life sciences, and defence. The Singapore–Sweden Royal Business Forum is a continuation of a number of major business events between Sweden and Singapore and its surrounding region in recent years. The aim is to strengthen engagement and cooperation on innovation driven by digitalisation and the green transition. CEO of Business Sweden Jan Larsson will open the Forum. The King, Ms Malmer Stenergard and a representative of the Singaporean Government will give welcome speeches, after which cooperation agreement announcements will be presented by Swedish and Singaporean representatives. Moderator Sharanjut Leyl will interject in proceedings to conduct brief interviews.
Business Sweden Singapore

Business lunch

The King and Queen and Ms Malmer Stenergard will attend a lunch with representatives of the Swedish and Singaporean business sectors.

Symposium on health care

The Queen will attend the Singapore-Sweden Partnership: Empowering Innovation in Healthcare symposium, involving leading experts and researchers from Singapore and Sweden. The symposium will look at how innovation can help improve health and medical care and how cooperation between the two countries can be strengthened. Singapore’s Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung will also attend. Following words of welcome by The Queen and Mr Kung, a memorandum of understanding in the area of health will be signed by Ms Söderström and Singapore’s Permanent Secretary (Policy and Development) Lai Wei Lin. A presentation of Singapore’s strategy to promote precision medicine will be followed by a panel discussion on health and healthy ageing.

IISS Raffles Lecture

Ms Malmer Stenergard will give a lecture on the theme of Strengthening Cross-Regional Security: Sweden and the Indo-Pacific with The King and Queen in attendance. The IISS Raffles Lectures are arranged by the independent International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The lectures aim to inspire informed public debate on matters of regional and international importance.
IISS Raffles Lectures

Reception

The King and Queen will give a reception for their hosts and invited guests at Clifford Pier.

Thursday 21 November 

Brani Island

At Brani Island, The King and Queen will be shown the fire-fighting vessel Red Manta and examples of how search and rescue missions are undertaken in the Singapore Strait, one of the world’s most trafficked commercial waterways. Ms Malmer Stenergard will also attend. 

PSA – Pasir Panjang Terminal

The King and Queen will visit PSA at the Pasir Panjang Terminal, the major port in Singapore with a handling capacity of 34 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The new Tuas Port is currently being constructed in western Singapore – when completed (targeted for the 2040s), its handling capacity will be an estimated 65 million TEU. Freight handling at Tuas Port will be entirely automated. Swedish companies and research institutions are innovation leaders and can contribute advanced solutions to facilitate automation, digitalisation and sustainability.

Meeting with the Prime Minister

The King will meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with the Swedish ministers and state secretaries in attendance.

Lunch and panel discussions at Nanyang Technological University

The King and Queen and Mr Jevrell will attend a lunch at Nanyang Technological University, hosted by University President Professor Ho Teck Hua. In connection with the lunch, a panel discussion on the use of artificial intelligence in education, business and the public sector, moderated by  Professor Luke Ong, Vice President (AI & Digital Economy) and Dean, College of Computing & Data Science, NTU, will take place.
Nanyang Technological University

Meeting with expatriate Swedes

The King and Queen and Ms Malmer Stenergard will meet with expatriate Swedes in Singapore at a reception held at the residence of the Ambassador of Sweden, hosted by Ambassador Anders Sjöberg and his wife Ylva Sjöberg. The King and Ms Malmer Stenergard will both give speeches. Mr Jevrell will also attend.

Gardens by the Bay

The King and Queen will then visit the Gardens by the Bay and attend the inauguration of this year's Christmas exhibit. The gardens present the plant kingdom in a new way, from species in cool, temperate climates to tropical forests and habitats. For the last few years, the Nordic countries have been invited to exhibit glimpses of Nordic greenery. At this year’s Christmas exhibit, Gardens by the Bay in cooperation with the Swedish Railway Museum in Gävle and the Linnaean Collections in Uppsala will exhibit examples of Sweden’s history of botany and railway technology. Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh will welcome the visitors upon arrival.
Gardens by the Bay

Satay by the Bay

The day's programme will conclude with a visit by The King and Queen to Satay by the Bay for a presentation of Singapore’s unique hawker food culture.

The State Visit will conclude later in the evening, when The King and Queen leave Singapore. 

Alongside their participation in programme points as outlined above, the ministers and state secretaries also have their own bilateral meetings and activities.