Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam viewing the photographs of key events spanning 20 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Kazakhstan. [Photo: MFA]Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam was the Guest of Honour at a photo exhibition and reception organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Kazakhstan at the Shangri-La Hotel on 16 May 2013. In his remarks, Minister Shanmugam noted that the foundation of our bilateral relationship was laid during Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s visit to Kazakhstan in September 1991. Mr Lee had been invited by Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev to share Singapore’s developmental experience. Since then, several Kazakhstan leaders have visited Singapore, including President Nazarbayev who visited twice in 1996 and 2003. Minister Shanmugam also highlighted the expansion of collaboration between the two countries in recent years, especially in the areas of education and capacity building, and the growing interest amongst Singapore businessmen to explore opportunities in Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan. A transcript of Minister Shanmugam's remarks is appended.
. . . . .
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
16 MAY 2013
_______________________________________________________________
TRANSCRIPT OF MINISTER SHANMUGAM'S REMARKS
Ambassador Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Singapore is very happy together with Kazakhstan to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries. We have a warm and close relationship. The pictures on display capture the kind of interactions our leaders have had with each other. President Nazarbayev’s interest in Singapore is well known. It arose from his meetings with Mr Lee Kuan Yew whom he respected as a global statesman. It began with President Nazarbayev’s invitation to Mr Lee to visit Kazakhstan in September 1991. Mr Lee was invited to share his experience of Singapore’s development.
Both the leaders have proven to be visionary people. They have helped to shape the political and economic destinies of their respective countries. Singapore was honoured to host President Nazarbayev twice, in 1996 as well as 2003. Those visits laid the foundation for further collaboration between our two countries. Since then, the relationship has grown steadily.
Our two countries are geographically very different especially in terms of size, but also similar in some aspects. We are both relatively young nations. We have similar aspirations for progress of our country and our people. We seek to develop a modern economy and cultivate a sense of belonging amongst our citizens. Therefore it has been easy for our two countries to engage each other and collaborate on a number of initiatives to build long lasting linkages, for example, in education and capacity building. We have shared our developmental experience in a number of areas which have been useful and hopefully will continue to be useful to Kazakhstan.
Our economic relations have also grown stronger. That is really based on the good political relationship. Singapore's commercial presence in Kazakhstan, some of which can be seen in the photographs, has grown from the oil and gas sector to include the Education and IT sector, as well as some other sectors. Our bilateral trade is the highest among Central Asian countries. Given the base we have, I think there is a lot of potential to grow further. There is an increasing amount of interest amongst Singapore businessmen to explore opportunities in Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan. As the Central Asian and Southeast Asian economies link up with each other, Singapore and Kazakhstan are well-positioned as gateways to our respective regions.
Thank you Ambassador and the Kazakh Embassy, for actively promoting our mutual relationship. We are confident that with close cooperation between our Ambassadors as well as with Singapore’s Honorary Consul General in Almaty, we will be able to develop and further strengthen our relationship. We congratulate you for organising this event and thank you for inviting me. I wish everyone a pleasant evening. Thank you.