Presentation of Credentials, 25 July 2019

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

(a)   The Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
His Excellency Arken Arystanov

(b)   The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina
His Excellency Mehmed Halilović

(c)   The Ambassador of the Republic of Mali
His Excellency Sékou Kassé

Their bio summaries are attached.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE 
25 July 2019

MEHMED HALILOVIĆ

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Mr Mehmed Halilović has been Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia since November 2018. Prior to that, he was the Ambassador to the State of Kuwait from 2015 to 2018.

Mr Halilović was born in 1976 in Novo Selo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. After graduating from the Faculty of Defence and Security of the University of Khartoum, Sudan in 1997, Mr Halilović joined the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Platoon Leader in the Ranger Battalion. He subsequently underwent training in leadership, logistics and languages in Malaysia and the US. During his career in the military, he took on roles in HQ Liaison and Public Relations in Civil-Military Cooperation, and eventually attained the rank of Major in the Intelligence and Security Directorate in the Operational Command.

Mr Halilović is married with three children.

[Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

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SÉKOU KASSÉ

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

MALI
 

Sékou Kassé is currently Mali’s Ambassador to India, with concurrent accreditation to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. 

Kassé joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mali in 1985 as the Head of the International Agreements and Treaties Division. Prior to his current appointment, Kassé was the Diplomatic Counsellor of the Prime Minister of Mali from 2017 to 2018. 

Kassé also served as Mali’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2013 to 2016. Earlier in his career, he was a First Counsellor and Charge d’Affaires of Embassy of Mali in Switzerland, with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna from 2002 to 2009. He also served as a political coordinator at the United Nations Security Council in New York from 2000 to 2001. 

[Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

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ARKEN ARYSTANOV

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

Dr Arken Arystanov was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Singapore on 6 June 2019. Prior to that, he had served as the Economic Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Paris from 2014 to 2019. 

Dr Arystanov has extensive experience in the public sector. Prior to becoming a diplomat, he was Chairman of the Board of Kazpost from 2000 to 2005, and again from 2011 to 2013. Dr Arystanov was Chairman of the Agency for Regulation of Activities of the Regional Financial Centre in Almaty from 2006 to 2011, and was appointed Director at the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies in 2014. Dr Arystanov has held various positions in Kazakhstan’s banking sector, including at the Kazakhstan National Bank, the Almaty Merchant Bank, and the Halyk Bank.

Dr Arystanov graduated from the Lomonosov Moscow State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Economics, and obtained his Master’s Degree in Business Administration (International Economics) at the same university. In 2003, Dr Arystanov received his Ph.D in Economics from the Kazakh Economic University. 

Dr Arystanov has received several national awards, including the Order of Parasat (2012), Order of Kurmet (2005), Medal "100 years of Kazakhstan Railways" (2004) and Medal "10 years to the Constitution of Kazakhstan".

Dr Arystanov is married with two daughters.

[Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information]

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