SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be on leave from Tuesday (Dec 19) to Dec 31, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.
During his absence, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be Acting Prime Minister until Dec 26.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will be Acting Prime Minister from Dec 27 to Dec 31.
Mr Lee was in Tokyo for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit, during which he met Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
During the meeting, the prime ministers welcomed the signing of a memorandum of cooperation to establish a green and digital shipping corridor between ports in Singapore and Japan.
They also reaffirmed the longstanding and excellent relations between Singapore and Japan, and discussed how the countries could further expand and deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as the future economy, digitalisation, security, as well as sustainability and energy.