Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam hosted an official welcome lunch for the Ministers and Senior Officials who are participating in the Sub-Saharan Africa Ministerial Exchange Visit from 25 to 26 August 2014.
He is flanked by (from L to R), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda Louise Mushikiwabo, Acting Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Mauritius Usha Dwarka-Canabady, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana Hanna Tetteh, Secretary of State of External Relations of the Republic of Angola Manuel Domingos Augusto, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Professor Viola Adaku Onwuliri, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania Mahadhi Juma Maalim, Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe Ignatius M.C. Chombo, and Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs) Chee Wee Kiong. [Photo: MFA]Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam hosted an official welcome lunch for a group of Ministers and Senior Officials from seven Sub-Saharan African countries (i.e., Angola, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The African delegates are in Singapore for the Sub-Saharan Africa High Level Ministerial Exchange Visit (AHLMEV).
During his opening remarks, Minister Shanmugam explained that the AHLMEV was part of Singapore’s efforts to enhance its foreign policy to engage friends and partners geographically distant from Singapore. Singapore had, for instance, played host to 12 countries from the Pacific Islands Forum in 2012, and 10 countries from the Caribbean Community in 2013.
Minister Shanmugam noted that Singapore’s longstanding friendship with Africa dated back to almost 50 years ago. Our engagement and business links had grown steadily over the years, through many high-level visits, study visits, trade missions, as well as technical cooperation. The Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) had trained over 7,700 African officials since its inception in 1992. Minister Shanmugam also announced that Singapore would continue to enhance its knowledge sharing by organising a series of customised courses for African senior officials on areas such as economic development, public administration, and sustainable urban development.
Minister Shanmugam also highlighted the Africa-Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) organised by IE Singapore as another important platform to grow economic awareness and partnership between Singapore and Africa. He welcomed the signing of several agreements, including the Singapore-Zimbabwe Air Services Agreement at the upcoming 3rd ASBF.
The African Ministers and Senior Officials visited URA and ITE College Central today. They will make a joint courtesy call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and attend a dinner hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 26 August 2014.
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore
25 August 2014