France and Singapore signed a wide-ranging deal to enhance nuclear power and clean energy cooperation during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the city-state.
The agreement also covers cyberspace and defence collaboration, Macron said during a joint news conference Friday with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. France and Singapore are “not only partners, but trusted friends.”
Macron is on a tour through Southeast Asia that has already taken him to Vietnam and Indonesia, as he seeks to position France as a counterweight to the US and China, the region’s two biggest economic partners.
“As a country of the Indo-Pacific, France stands side by side Singapore in underlining the importance of international law in the region, particularly around freedom of navigation,” Macron said.
Wong took Macron to a street-food centre the night before the meeting, posting a video on social media of the two sampling local fare.
Macron has sought to play up the appeal that France offers. “We are neither China nor the US,” he said, adding his country is not dependent on either but seeks to cooperate with both. “This is exactly the same view as a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region,” the French leader said at the news conference Friday.
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Wong welcomed France’s commitment to the region, as he upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Singapore’s first with a European country.
“France leading the way for the rest of Europe to engage Southeast Asia and Asean in a more significant way I think is an important strategic imperative for us,” Wong said at the briefing, adding that major powers having a stake in the region makes it more stable.
In Jakarta earlier this week, Macron met his counterpart Prabowo Subianto where the two pledged to bolster a defence partnership that has already seen Indonesia purchase billions of dollars’ worth of French weaponry.
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Macron’s visit was one of the first by a leader of a Western power since Prabowo took office in October. In Vietnam on Monday, the French president announced €9 billion ($10.3 billion) in deals and likewise promised closer defence cooperation.
Macron’s tour comes as the European Union is rushing to diversify supply chains and access new markets as a central element of its response to US President Donald Trump’s levies.
The EU has moved forward on trade talks with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand in recent months. It aims to revive negotiations on commercial and economic security with Australia while also seeking a sweeping accord by the end of the year with India.
