SINGAPORE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The France-Singapore Year of Innovation 2018 will be launched during the three-day visit of a French minister, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Monday.

The Year of Innovation 2018 is expected to strengthen innovation for economic and societal transformation, said the ministry in a press release, adding that the program was first announced by then-French President Francois Hollande and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in March 2017.

Singapore's Ministry for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran hosted Frederique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, to lunch on Monday, where the two ministers reaffirmed the warm bilateral relations between both countries and discussed ways Singapore and France could advance cooperation on innovation.

Iswaran said both Singapore and France recognized that innovation was a key growth strategy for their economies. He introduced two key platforms under the Year of Innovation, which are the VivaTech in France and the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology in Singapore, saying they provide startups and enterprises the opportunity to build partnerships, strengthen networks and also serve as key gateways for businesses and talents to expand into the two countries' respective regions.

Vidal said France has a long and successful history of collaboration with Singapore in the research and science sectors, and the two counties look forward to creating further interactions between their two innovation ecosystems as a result of the Year of Innovation.