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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of the Republic of Singapore, at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Both leaders held a summit meeting, which was followed by a signing ceremony and the exchange of documents as well as a joint press announcement.

Finally, a banquet was held at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence where the Prime Minister said in his address,

“I would like to once again extend a warm welcome to President Tan and his wife.

This year marks the important milestone of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Singapore. I am honored to welcome President Tan to Japan as a state guest on this commemorative year and I hope to share the heartfelt joy of this anniversary as the representative of the Japanese people and the Government of Japan. 

In October, the SJ50 Matsuri was held in Singapore as part of the festivities for this 50th anniversary. I hear that over the two days of this festival more than 110,000 people attended, and the main street Orchard Road was closed for an Awa Odori dance performance and the SJ50 Friendship Parade.

In 2015, approximately 300,000 Singaporeans visited Japan. Calculating this shows that roughly one in 10 Singaporeans came to Japan last year. At this pace , ten years from now it is likely that the entire population of Singapore will have visited Japan.

For many Japanese people, Singapore’s Merlion, Marina Bay, and Sentosa Island are extremely popular as tourist destinations. In addition, Singapore’s food culture is also quite popular, including chicken rice, chilli crab, and the Singapore Sling.

We have invited to today’s banquet leaders from many different places, all of whom are supporting these kinds of invaluable friendly relations between our two countries in a variety of different fields, including politics, the economy, and culture.

It is thanks to the efforts of all the people present that Japan and Singapore today share such excellent relations. I would like to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your contributions, and to request that you make continued contributions toward the further development of these relations in the future.

As a special cocktail for tonight, in front of you all is a pink-colored cocktail that is a fusion Singapore Sling with Japanese sake called Dassai from my home prefecture of Yamaguchi. This special cocktail called the Sakura Sling has been prepared in honor of the 50th anniversary of friendly relations between our two countries. I have not had the chance to try this cocktail so I cannot comment on its flavor until I drink it, but I do believe that if you have one you will be able to forget all of your troubles tonight and sleep soundly with dreams featuring appearances by both Mt. Fuji and the Merlion.

I would now like to raise a toast to the health and happiness of President Tan, his wife, and everyone here, and for the further development of friendship and cooperation between the peoples of Japan and Singapore. Thank you.”