First ever state visit from Singapore to Norway

Tony Tan Keng YamTony Tan Keng Yam.Photo: wikipedia.org

The level of collaboration with Singapore has increased enormously since the Norwegian royal couple was there on a state visit  in 2004.

With that visit King Harald and Queen Sonja played an important part in promoting Norway as a tourist destination and business partner. This time it’s President Tony Tan and First Lady Mary Tan who embarks on journey. The visit is the first ever state visit from Singapore to Norway.

– The aim of the visit will be to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in the maritime and offshore industries, but also for education and research.

Arctic issues will also be discussed during the visit, the Foreign Ministry informed in advance.

Joint

On Monday there will be a welcome ceremony at the Palace Square, with subsequent meetings between the countries’ political leaders as well as between the presidential and the royal couple. In the evening there will be a gala dinner at the Royal Palace.

President Tan and King Harald will attend a seminar in the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association on collaboration in the maritime sector.

This is an important arena for both countries, which have more in common than one might think, considering that one of them is located far north in cooler regions, while the other is in a tropical climate.

As global maritime players who both possess the competitive advantages of high levels of quality and technology , Norway and Singapore have initiated collaboration in both the areas of research and education.

The royal couple and presidential couple will be attending a seminar organized by the Research Council during the visit.

New seeds
The program also includes visits to Tøyen Manor and, for Queen Sonja and Mrs Tan, to the Botanical Garden.

The latter visit will also include the handing over of seeds from Singapore which are to be stored in the seed vault in Svalbard. When Queen Sonja was in Singapore in 2004 she had an orchid named after her. It is unknown whether the gesture is to be repeated from the Norwegian side.

After two days in Oslo, the  company will travel to the north. On Wednesday they will visit the University of Tromsø, and the king and the president will visit the research vessel “Helmer Hanssen” before the state visit ends in Tromsø in the afternoon.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today