MFA Press Statement: Visit by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Argentine Republic Jorge Faurie to Singapore, 31 July to 2 August 2018

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Argentine Republic Jorge Faurie is on a visit to Singapore from 31 July to 2 August 2018 to attend the 51^st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Related Meetings (AMM) as a Guest of the Chair.

Minister Faurie called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and separately met with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan today.  Minister Faurie met Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and addressed the Argentina-Singapore Business Forum at Enterprise Singapore headquarters in the morning.

During Minister Faurie’s call on Prime Minister Lee, Prime Minister Lee welcomed the significant upswing in bilateral relations in the past year.  Both sides exchanged views on ongoing efforts to promote greater cooperation between Latin America and Southeast Asia and expressed support for the recent launch of the MERCOSUR-Singapore Free Trade Agreement negotiations on 23 July 2018.  Minister Faurie informed Prime Minister Lee of Argentina’s G20 priorities and said that Argentine President Macri looked forward to Prime Minister Lee’s visit to Argentina at the end of the year to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit.  Prime Minister Lee thanked Minister Faurie for Argentina’s invitation and affirmed Singapore’s commitment to work closely with the Argentine Presidency to support the G20’s mandate of promoting “Strong, Sustainable, Balanced and Inclusive Growth”.

Minister Balakrishnan and Minister Faurie exchanged signed notes today to formalise the expansion of the Singapore-Argentina Air Services Agreement (ASA).  Affirming their commitment to deepening economic ties between Singapore and Argentina, Minister Faurie and Minister Balakrishnan welcomed the good progress on the Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations and agreed to start negotiations on an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement.  They agreed to build on the positive momentum of the MERCOSUR-Singapore FTA launch to work towards holding the first round of negotiations by the end of the year.  Both Ministers welcomed Argentina’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), which is a positive step towards closer engagement between Argentina and ASEAN and its Member States.  Minister Balakrishnan also welcomed Argentina’s interest to link the ASEAN Smart Cities Network initiative to the G20 agenda. 

Minister Faurie will sign Argentina’s Instrument of Accession to the TAC on the sidelines of the 51^st AMM, and brief the ASEAN Foreign Ministers on Argentina’s G20 Presidency tomorrow.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE

1 AUGUST 2018

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on 1 August 2018. [Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore]

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie met Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan on 1 August 2018 on the sidelines of the 51^st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Related Meetings. [Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore]