SINGAPORE — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. arrived here in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon, officially starting his two-day State Visit, which aims to aid the Philippines' post-Covid-19 recovery.
The plane carrying Marcos and his delegation landed at the Changi Airport at 12:45 p.m. after wrapping up his activities in Indonesia.
The President's first official event is his meeting with the members of the Filipino community. Around 2,000 Filipinos here are expected to attend the event at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the evening.
Filipinos are starting to line up at the National University of Singapore for President Marcos' meeting with the Filipino community tonight. @manilabulletin pic.twitter.com/xwzQg19lb4
— Argyll Cyrus Geducos (@argyllcyrus_MB) September 6, 2022
The following day, President Marcos and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos will grace an orchid-naming ceremony in honor of the First Couple at the Singapore Botanical Gardens.
Marcos will then meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for breakfast before arriving at Istana for a courtesy call on Singapore President Halimah Yacob.
The President will have separate bilateral meetings with the two Singaporean leaders.
Marcos and Lee will then witness the joint signing of agreements on counterterrorism and data privacy.
Before his visit ends, President Marcos will attend an economic briefing hosted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance (DOF).
His last activity will be a roundtable with the members of the Singapore business community.
The economic briefing and roundtable with business leaders aim to spark interest among Singaporean business leaders to invest in the Philippines and thus boost the country's post-Covid economic recovery efforts.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said President Marcos' visit "reaffirms the warm and longstanding ties between Singapore and the Philippines, underpinned by strong cooperation across many domains and flourishing people-to-people ties."