Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration, will visit Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia between 18 and 23 July 2022 to promote the EU's borrowing programme Next Generation EU (NGEU), drawing attention to the investment opportunities Europe offers. The EU's cooperation with the visited countries and with Asia in general in view of global challenges will also be in the focus of the discussions with Commissioner's interlocutors.

In Singapore, the Commissioner will meet a range of interlocutors, including Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He will also engage with Chow Kiat Lim, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Dilhan Pillay, CEO of Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean state holding company.

Commissioner Hahn will also take part in the one-day conference “Asia's role in Europe's future” organised by the financial think-tank Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).

In Kuala Lumpur, the Commissioner will have meetings with Malaysian Finance Minister Honourable Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz and with the Governor of the country's central bank, Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.

In Bangkok, the Commissioner will meet Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy; Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Finance, and Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Governor of the Bank of Thailand.

The Commissioner's visit will conclude in Jakarta where he will meet Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Finance Minister of Indonesia, and Perry Warjiyo, Governor of Bank Indonesia.

Audio-visual material from the meetings will be available on EbS and on social media. (For more information: Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 229 54578; Claire Joawn - Tel.: +32 229 56859)