Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who visited the United States over a few days in the past week, inaugurated the SF Overseas Centre of Enterprise Singapore, the government entity tasked with increasing the island nation’s business competitiveness.
During his visit, the primary reason for which was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meet in San Francisco, the Singapore prime minister took the opportunity of connecting with Silicon Valley, the global digital technology hub located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the state of California.
Lee met with Apple CEO Tim Cook as he visited Apple Park in Cupertino, the company headquarters; and he also went to Googleplex, the corporate headquarters of Google and its parent company Alphabet. Singaporeans who live and work in the Bay Area met with the leader of their country with great enthusiasm.
The prime minister shared several photos, captioning them: “A busy day in the Bay Area. Visited Googleplex and Apple Park in Cupertino, launched Enterprise Singapore’s SF Overseas Centre, and then wrapped up the day with an evening reception for overseas Singaporeans living in the Bay Area. – LHL”
At the APEC conversations, the prime minister emphasised on the opportunities available in Singapore even amid the global uncertainties; the urgency of developing sustainable energy sources; and the need to ensure equitable distribution of economic gains.
Lee said at APEC, “Even in a complicated world, there are opportunities. We are not the last in [the] queue to reach those opportunities. In fact, we are quite high up the list, and we should get further up….”
He added, “The markets are there; the opportunities are there. We have to seize them, and we have to be able to export, to get people to notice Singapore and want to come to Singapore.”
The prime minister got back to Singapore early on Sunday and posted a round-up video on the social network X.
