MFA Press Statement: Presentation of Credentials Ceremony, 19 May 2016

The following foreign Heads of Mission presented their credentials to President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam in separate ceremonies at the Istana today:

 (a)     The High Commissioner of the Republic of Mozambique

Her Excellency Maria Gustava

(b)     The Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil

His Excellency Flávio Soares Damico

(c)      The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea

          His Excellency Lee Sang-deok

Their bio summaries are attached.   

.    .    .    .     .

 MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE 

19 MAY 2016

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Her Excellency Maria Gustava

Mrs Maria Gustava is a senior career diplomat who joined the Mozambique Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in 1989. She has served various posts in the Ministry, including Head of Department for Multilateral Economic Relations, Deputy Director for International Organisations and Conferences, Deputy Director for Studies Planning and Information and Deputy Head of the Mission in South Africa.  She was appointed Ambassador to Indonesia in February 2016. Prior to this appointment, she was the Director General for Asia and Oceania, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Mrs Gustava graduated from Monash University, Australia, in 1997, with a Master’s Degree in Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 1991, she obtained an Honours Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Higher Institute for International Relations in Mozambique.

She was awarded the Diploma of Honours by the Government of Mozambique for her contribution to the successful preparation of three international summits in Maputo in 2004, namely: New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Summit, World Economic Forum’s Africa Economic Summit and the Africa Caribbean and Pacific Summit.  She was also awarded the Diploma of Honours for her contribution to the success of the brainstorming workshops at the President’s Office from 2005 to 2014.

Mrs Gustava is married with 3 children.

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His Excellency Flávio Soares Damico

Before being appointed to Singapore, Ambassador Flávio Soares Damico was Director of Inter-regional Mechanisms in the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil (November 2011 - April 2016).

Ambassador Damico holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in Economics from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.  He has been a career diplomat since 1986, and has served in the Brazilian Missions in New York (United Nations), Uruguay, East Timor, and Geneva (World Trade Organisation).

Ambassador Damico has extensive experience in multilateral and plurilateral negotiations.  He was a delegate to various sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, negotiations of the WTO Doha Round (2001-2011), and served as Brazil’s senior official to various inter-regional mechanisms, including BRICS, the IBSA Forum, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), the Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA), and the Africa-South America Summit (ASA) (2012-2016).

Born on March 5^th, 1960, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Ambassador Damico is married to Mrs Rosa Maria Campos Damico.

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His Excellency Lee Sang-deok

Prior to his appointment in Singapore, Ambassador Lee Sang-deok served as Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of Korea (ROK) from January 2014 to April 2016. 

He graduated with a B.A. from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 1986 and attained a M.A. in Politics from Georgia State University in 1992.

After joining the ROK MOFA in 1988, Ambassador Lee has assumed various positions in the Ministry, including Director for Southwest Asia and Oceania Division as well as Director for Southeast Asia Division. Following a secondment to the Office of the President, he was posted to the People’s Republic of China, and subsequently to Japan as Minister-Counsellor of the ROK Embassy before returning to ROK MOFA as Deputy Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs Bureau.

Born on 31 August 1960, Ambassador Lee is married with one daughter and one son.