Working Visit by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, 25 July 2026

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel made a Working Visit to Singapore on Saturday, 25 July 2026.

During his visit, DPM Bettel called on Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. They reaffirmed the warm and longstanding ties between both countries. Senior Minister Lee and DPM Bettel also exchanged views on global and regional developments.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan hosted DPM Bettel to dinner. They discussed geopolitical developments and exchanged views on deepening bilateral cooperation. They agreed on the importance for like-minded states like Singapore and Luxembourg to continue working together to uphold international law, multilateralism and a rules-based global order.

Minister Balakrishnan joined DPM Bettel in the inauguration of the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Singapore. The transcript of Minister’s remarks at the inauguration is at Annex.

.     .     .     .     .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

25 JULY 2026

ANNEX

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN’S REMARKS AT THE

INAUGURATION OF THE LUXEMBOURG EMBASSY IN SINGAPORE,

25 JULY 2026

Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel,

It’s a pleasure to be here and let me extend a warm welcome to you and your team.

Singapore is a very small and crowded place – you can look around, and you can feel that. You’ve also made a point about difficult history and the challenges of geography. But actually, both Luxembourg and Singapore have illustrated that if small states get it right and we transcend geography and overcome the challenges of history, and if we make ourselves relevant and connect ourselves on the basis of respect, goodwill and trust, the future is still open, and even small states have agency. So thank you for being a fellow example, a fellow role model, and a fellow fount from which we can exchange experiences, because our circumstances are different. I think we have much to benefit from picking each other's brains, sharing those experiences, and most importantly, working together.

We have warm and friendly relations. In fact, we've commemorated 50 years of diplomatic relations. You already recalled our President Tharman Shanmugaratnam making a state visit to Luxembourg last year.

I’ll give you a little factoid. Would you believe that Luxembourg is Singapore's largest EU investor, and Luxembourg is Singapore's second largest investment destination in the EU. It's got something to do with being small, with being networked, with being connected, and obviously being financial centres as well.

Luxembourg is internationally recognised as a leading financial centre and an innovator in sustainable finance and logistics, and as you mentioned, space – the next frontier. We in Singapore are a tiny city-state in the heart of Southeast Asia, and we aim to be a trusted global business and financial hub and a gateway to our region, Southeast Asia. This is why, if you look around, you will see both the European and ASEAN Ambassadors here. I believe that there's much synergy between Luxembourg and Singapore. There's a lot more that we can and should do together, and I'm glad you're opening an Embassy here.

We both spent several days together at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings. Actually, we could almost exchange our speeches, and no one would have noticed because we are aligned. We have to see the world the way it is, and yet, we must not lose that sense of agency; otherwise we become prisoners of geography and prisoners of history. So we are fellow champions and advocates for the importance of international law, for the rules-based multilateral trading system, and for the UN Charter.

The opening of the Embassy is timely, and it also indicates that we both want to step up collaboration. We know that the future is going to be tougher for small states, so all the more so we will double down on this.

I want to again congratulate your team and thank all the guests here for being present tonight. We look forward to working very closely with the Embassy. We look forward with great anticipation for even more in the ties between Luxembourg and Singapore. Thank you very much, my dear friend.

.     .     .     .     .