Mission Updates

PRESS STATEMENT OF THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE IN ABU DHABI

“SINGAPORE EMBASSY TO HOST MAJLIS SINGAPURA EVENT AND SOFT LAUNCH OF FURSA SAIDA CONNECT”

His Excellency Dr Philip Yeo, Chairman of SPRING Singapore among several distinguished posts, and a former Special Advisor for Economic Development to the Prime Minister of Singapore, will speak at a special lunch-time Majlis Singapura event at the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal at 12.00 pm on Sunday, 21 April 2013.  The topic of the 2nd Majlis Singapura Distinguished Speakers Series event is ‘The UAE and Singapore: A Lunch Conversation with a Pioneer of Singapore’s Economic Development’, during which Dr Yeo will share first-hand experiences and insights on Singapore’s growth story and explore its relevance for UAE’s own development model.

The 2^nd Majlis Singapura hosted by His Excellency Umej Bhatia, Singapore’s Ambassador to the UAE will be followed by the soft launch of the very first FURSA SAIDA Connect event.  This event will bring together UAE-based Singaporeans and Emiratis from across the UAE for an informal get-together over lunch.  FURSA SAIDA stands for Fujairah-Umm Al Quwain-Ras Al Khaimah-Sharjah-Ajman-Singapore-Abu Dhabi-Dubai, and convenes the peoples of the seven emirates and Singapore over informal networking events.  As an initiative in boosting people-to-people ties, FURSA SAIDA (an Arabic greeting that literally means happy opportunity) Connect offers a bridge for Singaporeans and Emiratis to meet, socialize and deepen understanding and friendship for the long-term good of both peoples and countries.

The events offer a happy opportunity for Emiraties and Singaporeans in the UAE to hear from H.E. Dr Yeo, well-known as a pioneer in Singapore’s economic development. H.E. Dr Yeo has held many important portfolios during his illustrious career in the Singapore Government, during which time he oversaw the building of the defence, aerospace, bio-medical and petro-chemical industries in Singapore, creating thousands of high-technology jobs for Singaporeans, through the attraction of many MNCs to specific industry clusters.  In addition to his many contributions to Singapore, Dr Yeo is also a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts in Public Administration, helping to develop public administration and governance among UN member states.  For his efforts in moving Singapore's economy into manufacturing sectors such as disk drives, semiconductors, petrochemicals and biomedical sciences, Dr Yeo was awarded the Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Award.  (A copy of his CV is attached to this statement.)

Majlis Singapura is a Distinguished Speakers Series which was launched last month by HE Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qassimi, the Minister of Development and International Co-operation of the United Arab Emirates.  The objectives of the Majlis Singapura series are to deepen knowledge and understanding of the economic development trajectories of Singapore and the UAE, and to share practical policy lessons, and to facilitate networking in an informal setting among friends of Singapore and the UAE and partners in the progress of both countries.

The first speaker for the inaugural Majlis Singapura event was Dr Parag Khanna, the best-selling author of How to Run the World: Chartering a Course to the Next Renaissance (2011) and The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order (2008).  Dr Khanna, who currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew of Public Policy, addressed the topic of “Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Singapore - Global Cities in the New World Order”.

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16 April 2013