On February 6, President Noda Yoshihiko received a visit from Singapore Ambassador to Japan Ong Eng Chuan. The meeting was also attended by Kentaro Genma, Director-General of the International Department, and Harumi Yoshida, Deputy Director-General of the International Department and Minister for Next Gender, Coexistence and Loneliness.

Ambassador Ong stated that his main job is to deepen the relationship between Japan and Singapore, and emphasized that in order to do so, "it is important that not only the ruling party in Japan but also the opposition party cooperate together, and that it is important to think about how the entire region can cooperate, not just the interests of both countries."President Noda pointed out that Japan and Singapore are members of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) and RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), and appealed to Ambassador Ong, saying, "I think Singapore and Japan can play a role in connecting the two economic partnership agreements. I think there are many countries that can cooperate together in the sense of creating a larger free trade (system)."