Presentation of Credentials, 25 October 2022

The following foreign Heads of Mission presented their credentials to President Halimah Yacob in separate ceremonies at the Istana today:

a. The High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives 

  His Excellency Ahmed Thasmeen Ali

  b. The Ambassador of the French Republic

  Her Excellency Tang Minh-Di

c. The Ambassador of Japan

  His Excellency Ishikawa Hiroshi

d. The Ambassador of the Republic of Iceland

  His Excellency Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson

  Their bio summaries are attached.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

25 OCTOBER 2022

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HIS EXCELLENCY AHMED THASMEEN ALI
HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SINGAPORE
REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES

High Commissioner Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was the Republic of Maldives’ Minister of Home Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and Minister of Atolls Administration from 2007 to 2008. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1995 to 2014, Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2005 to 2008 and Majority Leader of Parliament from 2010 to 2011.

High Commissioner Thasmeen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Warwick. He is married to Visam Ali and has a daughter.

Photo Credits: MCI

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HER EXCELLENCY TANG MINH-DI
AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE
FRENCH REPUBLIC

  Ambassador Tang is a career diplomat. Prior to her assignment as the ambassador in Singapore, she was the Head of Southeast Asia division at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs overseeing France’s relations with 10 ASEAN countries and East Timor as well as with ASEAN. During her three-year assignment, France became a development partner of ASEAN.

Ambassador Tang was mainly trained as an economist (BA and MA), studied at the Paris Institute of Political Science (equivalent of Master of Arts) and holds a degree on Chinese language and civilisation (BA).

After a short experience in banking, she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 25 years ago where she held positions in various fields, including on environment (climate change), as well as defence and security issues. She was the Deputy Permanent Representative of France at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and Deputy to the Consul General in Jerusalem, who is also the French representative to the Palestinian Authority. Her first assignment abroad was in Singapore (2001-2004).

She was granted the Ordre national du Mérite.

Photo Credits: MCI

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HIS EXCELLENCY HIROSHI ISHIKAWA
AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE
JAPAN

  Ishikawa is a career diplomat with 35 years of experience in the Japanese Foreign Service.

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador of Japan to Singapore, Ishikawa was Deputy Minister in the Foreign Minister’s Secretariat. He had also served as Director-General of the Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, Director of the First China and Mongolia Division, Director of the First North America Division and Director of the National Security Policy Division. Ishikawa had also served overseas postings to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and the Embassy of Japan in China.

Ishikawa graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Bachelor of Arts in Law in 1986 and obtained a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies from Stanford
University in 1990.

Ishikawa is married and has two daughters. He speaks Japanese, English and Mandarin.

Photo Credits: MCI

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HIS EXCELLENCY STEFÁN HAUKUR JÓHANNESSON
AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE
REPUBLIC OF ICELAND

Ambassador Jóhannesson has served over 35 years in the Icelandic Foreign Service. He assumed his position as Ambassador to Japan in 2021 and as non-resident Ambassador to Indonesia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Timor-Leste. Before his present assignment, he served as Ambassador to the UK and as a non-resident Ambassador to Ireland, Malta, Qatar, and Jordan. He previously served as the Permanent Secretary of State of the Foreign Ministry in Reykjavík. In 2014, he was the Team Leader for the Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Kyiv, Ukraine. Prior to that, he was Iceland’s Chief Negotiator and State Secretary in the EU accession talks from 2009 to 2013. Ambassador Jóhannesson has held multiple international leadership roles in negotiations and dispute settlement within the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He led the accession of Russia to the WTO to completion, in his role as chairman of the Working Party from 2003 to 2011. He has also served as the Ambassador of Iceland to the European Union and the Benelux countries and as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO, European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and other International Organisations in Geneva where he also served as non-resident Ambassador to Slovenia and Liechtenstein.

He has been awarded the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, the Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, and the Royal Order of the Polar Star in Sweden.

Photo Credits: MCI

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