Presentation of Credentials, 29 August 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 State of Israel

His Excellency Sagi Karni

(b) The High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

  Her Excellency Rukhsana Afzaal

(c) The Ambassador of the United Mexican States

  His Excellency Agustín García-López Loaeza

Their bio summaries are attached.     
 

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE 
29 AUGUST 2019

SAGI KARNI

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE 

THE STATE OF ISRAEL

Ambassador Sagi Karni joined the Israeli Foreign Service in 1995. His first overseas posting was in Beijing. He then served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Oslo and was a member of the Israeli delegation to the European Union in Brussels. 

In 2008, Mr. Karni began his tenure as Ambassador to Angola and non-resident Ambassador to Mozambique and Sao Tome. Upon completion of his term, he returned to Israel to serve as the Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Water Resources. 

In 2013, he assumed the position of Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau. After his 4-year term, he returned to Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the head of the Strategic Planning and Assessment Unit and went on to become the acting Head of the Policy Planning Bureau. 

Ambassador Sagi Karni was born in the northern part of Israel. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Biology and Philosophy), from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Tel Aviv University. He is married with 2 daughters. Ambassador Sagi Karni is a keen triathlete and an open water swimming enthusiast.

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Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information

RUKHSANA AFZAAL

HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SINGAPORE 

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN 

Afzaal joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan in 1994. Prior to her current appointment, Afzaal was the Director General (Middle East) from 2017 to 2019. Earlier in her career, she was Section Officer (United Nations Division) from 1996 to 1997, Section Officer (Iran and Turkey) from 2001 to 2002, Deputy Director (Japan and Korea) from 2002 to 2005, Director (India) from 2012 to 2013, and Director (Organisation and Career Planning) from 2013 to 2014.
 
Afzaal also served as a Minister in the Embassy of Pakistan in Germany from 2014 to 2017 and Counsellor in Warsaw, Poland from 2009 to 2012. Earlier in her career, she was a First Secretary in the High Commission of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2006 to 2009, and Third Secretary in the Embassy of Pakistan in Ankara, Turkey from 1998 to 2001.

Afzaal graduated from the University of Peshawar in 1991 with a Master in Political Science. She is married and has two children.

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Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information

AGUSTÍN GARCÍA-LÓPEZ LOAEZA

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE 

UNITED MEXICAN STATES 

Ambassador Agustín García-López Loaeza was born in Mexico on 5 March 1962.

He joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1991. He has held various positions at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, and Overseas Representations.

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador of Mexico to Singapore, Ambassador García-López Loaeza was the Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation,AMEXCID, from 2017 to 2019, equivalent to the rank of an Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

A career diplomat, Ambassador García-López Loaeza has also previously served as Ambassador of Mexico to Canada (2016-2017), Ambassador of Mexico to France (2013-2016) and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD (2007-2013).

Ambassador García-López Loaeza has also served in a number of finance-related roles in the Mexican government. He was part of the Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation representing Mexico and the Dominican Republic (2000-2007). He was also the General Director of International Finance Affairs at the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (2000); General Director for Economic Cooperation at the Mexican Institute of International Cooperation (IMEXCI) of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (1995 to 1998); Director of Treasury Affairs with North America, the Caribbean and the Pacific at the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (1993-1995); Responsible for Economic Affairs and Foreign Policy at the Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom (1989-1993) and Adviser for Economic Affairs of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1986 to 1989).

He holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Economics. Besides Spanish, he is fluent in English, French and German.

Ambassador García-López Loaeza is married to Katya Anaya de la Fuente, with whom he has two children, Agustín Mateo and Pablo Eduardo.

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Photo credit: Ministry of Communications and Information