Official Visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, 27 to 28 August 2019

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, is on an official visit to Singapore from 27 to 28 August 2019, at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

Earlier today, Sheikh Mohammed met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat, and they discussed ways to deepen relations across various areas, including financial cooperation and trade linkages. 
 
Sheikh Mohammed co-chaired the Second Implementation Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) meeting with Minister Balakrishnan. At the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed and Minister Balakrishnan welcomed the good progress made since the inaugural IMM meeting in April 2018, and reaffirmed the importance of the IMM meeting as a platform to facilitate mutually beneficial bilateral partnerships. They reviewed the outcome of the discussions held between representatives of both countries from six working-level Technical Working Committees. These covered the areas of Information and Communications Technology, Security, Business, Legal, Sustainability, and Social Development. At the close of the meeting, the co-chairs endorsed an IMM Joint Statement which reflected the tangible outcomes of the respective inter-agency discussions. The full Joint Statement of the Second IMM meeting is at ANNEX.
 
Sheikh Mohammed and Minister Balakrishnan witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Qatar Free Zones Authority and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, as well as an agreement between Megawatts Engineering Services Private Limited and DServ to establish a limited liability company. Minister Balakrishnan hosted lunch for Sheikh Mohammed, during which the two leaders discussed developments in Asia and the Middle East, and explored how both sides could pursue closer cooperation in various sectors.
 
Sheikh Mohammed called on Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean in the afternoon. Sheikh Mohammed and Senior Minister Teo had a wide-ranging discussion on regional and international developments, and affirmed their continued support for the IMM platform, which had resulted in substantive bilateral projects and cooperation between Singapore and Qatar.
 
Sheikh Mohammed also called on President Halimah Yacob. Sheikh Mohammed and President Halimah reaffirmed the warm and friendly relations between Singapore and Qatar.  
 
During his visit, Sheikh Mohammed, who is concurrently the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Qatar Investment Authority, visited Temasek Holdings.
 
Sheikh Mohammed departs Singapore tonight.  
 

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
28 AUGUST 2019

 
ANNEX

 
JOINT STATEMENT FOR THE 2ND MEETING OF
THE IMPLEMENTATION MONITORING MECHANISM
IN SINGAPORE
WEDNESDAY, 28 AUGUST 2019

The Implementation Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) of the Singapore-Qatar High Level Joint Committee (HLJC) held its second meeting on Wednesday, 28 August 2019 in Singapore.
 
The meeting was co-chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, and Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore.
 
The co-chairs reaffirmed the warm relations between Singapore and Qatar and the high level of bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors. They welcomed the recent exchange of high-level visits, including the visit to Qatar by Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore for the 16th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in May 2019, and the visit to Singapore by His Excellency Dr Issa Bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs of the State of Qatar, for the Singapore Convention on Mediation Signing Ceremony in August 2019.
 
Both sides acknowledged the progress made since the inaugural IMM meeting in April 2018, which was testament to the success of the action and implementation-oriented approach of the IMM in advancing Government-to-Government, Business-to-Government, and Business-to-Business partnerships for mutual benefit.
 
Both co-chairs reviewed the work of the six Technical Working Committees (TWCs) established under the IMM in the areas of Business, Information and Communications Technology, Legal, Security, Social Development, and Sustainability. The fruitful discussions of the Senior Officials’ Meeting and TWC meetings resulted in agreement within the following areas of cooperation:

• Business. Substantial business cooperation was welcomed by the co-chairs. Qatar Chamber discussed possible areas of cooperation with the Singapore Business Federation. Enterprise Singapore, Singapore Business Federation and Qatar Chamber were keen to organise business activities and delegations, which will focus on key sectors in Qatar and Singapore including Oil and Gas, Information and Communications Technology and software, FinTech, as well as urban solutions such as city-planning, building and construction, and water and waste management. Qatar Chamber and Singapore Business Federation are also discussing the possible formation of a Joint Business Council together with the renewal of a Joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

• Information and Communications Technology. Discussions covered extended collaboration in areas such as cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, Smart Nation initiatives, digital transformation, and digital society. Both parties welcomed the exchange of visits by relevant officials.

• Legal. Both co-chairs noted good progress at the Legal TWC. The Ministry of Law of the Republic of Singapore (MinLaw) welcomed the State of Qatar’s decision to sign on to the Singapore Convention on Mediation during the visit by Minister of Justice His Excellency Dr Issa Bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi to Singapore in August 2019. MinLaw and the Ministry of Justice of the State of Qatar (MoJ) also concluded the inaugural MinLaw-MoJ Joint Committee Meeting in August 2019. Both the MoJ and MinLaw agreed to further legal cooperation under the MOU signed between both ministries in 2016.

• Security. The Ministry of Home Affairs of the Republic of Singapore and the Qatar Ministry of Interior reaffirmed the usefulness of the Joint Working Group (JWG) as a platform for dialogue between both sides, and looked forward to the 9th Meeting of the JWG to be held in Singapore during the first half of 2020.

• Social Development. Both sides welcomed the fruitful exchange of views in areas of mutual interest between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Singapore and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of the State of Qatar, as well as between the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) of the Republic of Singapore and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) of the State of Qatar. MOM and MADLSA agreed to share experiences and best practices in areas including labour inspection and workplace health and safety, management of foreign domestic workers, and worker support. 

• Sustainability. On the Sustainability front, both sides welcomed the upcoming Urban Planning Forum in Doha, co-organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of the Republic of Singapore (URA), the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources of the Republic of Singapore, and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment of the State of Qatar (MME). MME and URA agreed to explore the signing of an MOU on land use and urban planning, and to continue exchanges and collaboration.

The co-chairs witnessed the signing of the following agreements:

• Government-to-Government MOU on cooperation between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the Qatar Free Zones Authority; and

• Business-to-Business agreement between Megawatts Engineering Services Private Limited and DServ to establish the Megawatts MENA Electrical Services Limited Liability Company.

The co-chairs concluded the Meeting by expressing commitment to further develop and strengthen bilateral relations in all areas through the work of the IMM TWCs. They looked forward to the third meeting of the IMM in the State of Qatar in 2020, on a date to be determined through diplomatic channels.

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Photo caption: Meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on 28 August 2019.

[Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

Photo caption: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan welcoming Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on his official visit to Singapore.

[Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

Photo caption: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani co-chairing the Second Implementation Monitoring Mechanism meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan on 28 August 2019.

Photo caption: Call on Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on 28 August 2019.

Photo caption: Call on President Halimah Yacob by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on 28 August 2019.