SINGAPORE - Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen was conferred the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits at a ceremony in Paris on Monday (Feb 19).
He was conferred the title of Officer in the Legion of Honour by French president Emmanuel Macron, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a statement early Tuesday.
The Legion of Honour is France's highest award to recognise outstanding service by civilians or military personnel, regardless of their citizenship.
The award was presented to Dr Ng by French Defence Minister Florence Parly at an investiture ceremony at the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
Past Singaporean recipients of the award include former Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Winston Choo, in 1992.
In September last year (2017), chairman of Changi Airport Group and Surbana Jurong Liew Mun Leong and Nanyang Technological University don Lam Khin Yong were both conferred the rank of Knight.
Prior to the ceremony, Dr Ng reviewed a French Honour Guard and met with Ms Parly, the statement said.
"Both ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and discussed security developments of mutual interest," the statement added.
As part of his two-day programme to Paris, Dr Ng also visited the French aeronautics, space and defence research laboratory, ONERA.
There, he was briefed on the existing collaboration between Mindef and ONERA.
Mindef said in the statement that Dr Ng's visit "underscores the strong and broad-based defence relationship between Singapore and France".
Both armed forces and defence establishments have had regular high-level interactions, including policy dialogues, professional exchanges, joint military exercises, and cross-attendance of courses, the statement said.
For example, the Republic of Singapore Air Force has conducted its advanced jet training in Cazaux, south of France, since 1998.
Both countries also have a range of bilateral defence technology interactions and exchanges, including the Singapore and France Advanced Research Initiative meetings.
"These wide-ranging interactions have strengthened the friendship and mutual understanding between both countries," the statement added.
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