MFA Press Statement: Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 19th ASEAN Regional Forum on 12 July 2012

[Photo: MFA]
 

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam, who is leading the Singapore delegation to the Post Ministerial Conferences and the 19th ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 10 to 13 July 2012, met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today.

During their meeting, Minister Shanmugam and Secretary Clinton noted the excellent state of the bilateral relations which they agreed to continue to broaden and deepen. Minister Shanmugam also welcomed the US’ decision on 28 June 2012 to grant Singapore an exception to the US’ National Defence Authorisation Act sanctions on Iran.

Minister Shanmugam and Secretary Clinton also had a wide-ranging discussion on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the US’ broad-based engagement of the Asia-Pacific, both countries’ ongoing collaboration in the region through ASEAN, as well as developments in Southeast Asia. Minister Shanmugam welcomed Secretary Clinton's initiative to demonstrate concrete US commitment to the Master Plan of ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) through the hosting of the US-ASEAN Business Forum on "Commitment to Connectivity" (C2C) in Siem Reap on 13 July 2012.

Minister Shanmugam and Secretary Clinton also noted the good progress made in implementing the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) which they signed in February 2012. The TCTP draws on both countries’ expertise to extend technical assistance to developing countries, in particular the Lower Mekong countries, in areas such as public health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and trade and investment facilitation. Notably, the first TCTP workshop on “Strategic Scenario Planning Workshop for Integrated Water Resources Development in the Lower Mekong Basin” took place in Bangkok from 18 to 21 June 2012. Both Minister Shanmugam and Secretary Clinton reaffirmed their commitment to addressing development needs in the region and to strengthening cooperation through the TCTP.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
12 JULY 2012