President Klaus Iohannis received by Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob

President Klaus Iohannis began his state visit to the Republic of Singapore on Friday morning, being welcomed by his counterpart Halimah Yacob at the Istana Presidential Palace.

''Excellent discussions with the President of the Republic of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, on ways to deepen and expand our bilateral relations, based on the same values and principles,'' the Romanian head of state tweeted.

Later, president Iohannis also had a meeting with the prime minister of the government of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong.

President Iohannis is currently in the Republic of Singapore after his official visit to Japan.

The visit to Singapore marks the entry of the bilateral relationship into a new stage of development, the first visit of a Romanian president to this country in the last 20 years, and in the context of the 55th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2022, according to the Presidential Administration.

The main objective of this visit is to boost bilateral relations, in line with their potential, especially in the economic-investment field. The agenda of the state visit to Singapore also includes intensifying cooperation in IT, education, research, food security, connectivity, cyber security and high technologies, combating climate change and green transition.

In terms of economic and sectoral cooperation between Romania and Singapore, based on the positive dynamics of trade in recent years, including the fact that our country is the third largest supplier of IT services in the European Union in Singapore, Romania's interest is to deepen and expand this level of cooperation by initiating new bilateral projects, the source said.