President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapour has arrived in Brussels for a three-day State visit to Belgium. On Monday President Shanmugaratnam and his wife received a ceremonial welcome at the Royal Palace the Royal Palace in Brussels from Belgium’s Head of State King Filip and Queen Mathilde.
Afterwards the Singaporean president met with senators and members of the House of Representatives at the federal parliament. No state visit would be complete without a visit to Brussels’ magnificent town hall. There Singapore’s president will be greeted by our capital city’s mayor Philippe Close (Francophone socialist).
President Tharman and King Filip have a number of joint engagements at Belgian non-profit groups that work in the field of youth empowerment. They will also meet with business leaders from various sectors including nanoelectronics, biosciences, renewable energy and finance.
Antwerp and Louvain-la-Neuve
President Tharman will also visit the Port of Singapour Authority’s Antwerp Europa terminal at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Antwerp. In Wallonia, he will visit the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and the particle accelerator facilities of Ion Beam Applications both of which are located in Louvain-la-Neuve (Walloon Brabant). While in Belgium, he will also meet Singaporean ex-pats based in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands at a reception.
Several Singaporean government ministers, top civil servants and officials from the president’s office are accompanying President Tharman on the state visit.