Singapore and France are working on a travel green lane for short-term business and official trips.
The framework for the arrangement has been agreed between French minister delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Franck Riester and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Transport Chee Hong Tat, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Monday (Dec 14).
Minister-delegate Riester is in Singapore for a three-day visit from Sunday to Tuesday to strengthen bilateral ties.
On Monday, he was hosted to lunch by Mr Chee and also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor to step up bilateral cooperation to improve food safety standards in both countries.
The MOU aims to enhance scientific and technical partnership in food safety testing and research, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
Signed by chief executive officer of SFA Lim Kok Thai and director general of French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) Roger Genet, the MOU affirmed the commitment by Singapore and France to consumer health by strengthening the exchange of knowledge, research cooperation and expert assessments.
Potential areas of collaboration will include risk assessment of chemical and microbiological food safety hazards, safety assessments of novel foods and emerging food safety risks.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said he met Mr Riester earlier and they “discussed opportunities to further enhance our bilateral economic relations”.
This includes greater collaboration in areas such as sustainability, biomedical services, advanced manufacturing and enhancing the logistics network in both countries. “Singapore and France are also keen to strengthen our digital economy cooperation, such as through a Digital Economy Agreement,” he added.
