MFA Press Statement - Presentation of Credentials

The following new foreign Heads of Mission presented their Diplomatic Credentials to President S R Nathan in separate ceremonies at the Istana today:

(a) The Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Duong Van Quang, who has succeeded Mr Do Cong Minh;

(b) The Ambassador of the Republic of Chile, Mr Angel Flisfisch Fernandez, who has succeeded Mr Juan Martabit Scaff;

(c) The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr Majid Motallebi Shabestari, who has succeeded Mr Abdullah Zifan;

(d) The Ambassador of the Republic of Iceland, Mr Olafur Egilsson, who would be the first Ambassador from the Republic of Iceland to be accredited to Singapore;

(e) The Ambassador of the Republic of Albania, Mr Kujtim Xhani, who would succeed Mr Tahir Elezi; and

(f) The Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia, Mr Mohamed Mouldi Kefi, who has succeeded Mr Mahmoud Bessrour.

The curricula vitae of Mr Duong Van Quang, Mr Angel Flisfisch Fernandez, Mr Majid Motallebi Shabestari, Mr Olafur Egilsson, Mr Kujtim Xhani and Mr Mohamed Mouldi Kefi are attached.

. . . . .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
23 SEPTEMBER 2003

__________________________________________________________

DUONG VAN QUANG

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

BORN:

15 May 1952, Ha Tay, Vietnam

AGE:

51

MARITAL STATUS:

Married
Has two children

EDUCATION:

PhD in French Language

CAREER:

1975 - 1979
Lecturer, International Relations College , Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1980 - 1982
Postgraduate studies in France

1982 - 1986
Lecturer, Deputy Head of Division, International Relations College, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1986 - 1990
Studied for PhD in French Language in France

1990 - 1992
Lecturer, Institute of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1992 - 1995
Minister Counselor, Vietnamese Embassy in France

1995 - 1998
Vice Rector, Institute of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1998 - 1999
Studied English in New Zealand

From 1999
Vice Rector, Institute of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

August 2003
Ambassador-designate to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore

. . . . .

September 2003

__________________________________________________________

ANGEL FLISFISCH FERNANDEZ

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF CHILE

BORN:

9 May 1941

AGE:

62

MARITAL STATUS:

Married to Carmen Gloria Cortes Trucco
Has two daughters

EDUCATION:

Law Graduate, University of Chile

Master of Arts in Political Sciences, University of Michigan

Professor, University of Chile and Associate Professor at Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

CAREER:

1981 - 1990
Columnist in "La Segunda" newspaper.
Participated as Panelist in two radical programs on national politics

1990 - 1995
Acting Technical Secretary of the Work Group of Improvement, Public Management

Executive Secretary, Political Inter-Ministerial Committee

1995 - 2000
Under-secretary (Vice Minister) of Aviation, Ministry of National Defence

Under-secretary (Vice Minister), Ministry of General Secretariat of the Presidency

Director of the Studies Division, Ministry of General Secretariat of the Presidency

Director of Public Security and Information Department

2000 - 2002
Under-secretary of Navy (Vice Minister)

1 Apr 2002
Executive Director of the Reformation and Modernisation of the State Project, Ministry of General Secretariat of the Presidency

August 2003
Ambassador-designate to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore

. . . . .

September 2003

__________________________________________________________

MAJID MOTALLEBI SHABESTARI

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

BORN:

1955, Tehran

AGE:

48

MARITAL STATUS:

Married
Has two children

EDUCATION:

BA in Economic Management

Presently doing post-graduate MA course in Civil Management

CAREER:

1978 - 1980
Deputy Head of the Mission of Iran in Dublin, Ireland

1982 - 1987
Deputy Head of the Department for Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran

1990 - 1993
Deputy Head of the Department for Asia & Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran

1993 - 1997
Deputy Head of the Mission of Iran in Canberra, Australia

1998 - 2000
Deputy Head of the Department for Asia & Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran

Jul 2003
Ambassador-designate of Iran to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore, with residence in Iran

LANGUAGES:

English and Turkish

. . . . .

23 September 2003

__________________________________________________________

OLAFUR EGILSSON

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF ICELAND

BORN:

20 August 1936, Reykjavik, Iceland

AGE:

67

MARITAL STATUS:

Married to Ragna Sverrisdottir Ragnars

EDUCATION:

1956
Graduate, Commercial College of Iceland

1963
Law Degree, University of Iceland

1967
Authorized District Court Attorney

CAREER:

1959 - 1962
Journalist, 'Visir' (1956-58) and 'Morgunbladid' (1959-62)

1964 - 1966
Regional Officer, NATO Information Service, Reykjavik, Iceland

General Secretary, Icelandic Association for Western Cooperation (ATA member) and the Atlantic Youth Association 'Vardberg' of Iceland

Jul 1966
Joined the Icelandic Foreign Service

1966 - 1969
Served in the Foreign Ministry's Political Division

1968 - 1969
Secretary of Commission revising the Icelandic Foreign Service Act

1969 - 1971
First Secretary, and later Counsellor, Icelandic Embassy, Paris; concurrently Deputy Permanent Representative to OECD, UNESCO and Council of Europe

1971 - 1974 Deputy Permanent Representative to North Atlantic Council, and Deputy Head, Icelandic Delegation to the European Economic Community, and Counsellor, Icelandic Embassy, Brussels

1974 - 1980
Counsellor, and later Minister Counsellor, Political Division, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

1980 - 1983
Chief of Protocol (with the rank of Ambassador)

Oct 1981 - Jun 1982
Acting Principal Private Secretary to the President of the Republic

1982 - 1987
Chairman, Governing Body, Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA)

1983 - 1987
Deputy Secretary General (Deputy Permanent Under Secretary) and Director General for Political Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

1986 - 1989
Ambassador to UK; also accredited to the Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands and Nigeria

1990 - 1994
Ambassador to Russia; also accredited to Bulgaria, Japan, Romania and Ukraine

1994 - 1996
Ambassador to Denmark; also accredited to Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania and Turkey

1996 - 1998
Ambassador in charge of Arctic Cooperation, and other assignments, Ministry for Foreign Affairs; also home based Ambassador to Holy See (1997), Turkey, Australia and New Zealand

1997 - 1998
Member of Commission on the Future of the Foreign Service

1998
Ambassador to China; also accredited in Japan (1998 - 2001), New Zealand (1999), Australia (1999), Republic of Korea (2000), Vietnam (2000), Thailand (2002), Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Indonesia

Dec 2002
Ambassador-designate to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore, with residence in Iceland

MEMBERSHIPS:

President, National Union of Icelandic Students, 1958 - 1959

Member of the Administrative Council of the University of Iceland, 1959 - 1960

Chairman of the Board, Hotel Gardur, Reykjavik, 1960

President, National Youth Council of Iceland, 1963 - 1964

Member of Executive Committee, Council of European National Youth Committees (CENYC) 1963 - 1964

Member of Commission Preparing Law on Youth Activities, 1963 - 1964

President, Academic Association of Reykjavik, 1976 - 1978

Executive Member, Bible Society of Iceland, 1977 - 1987 and 1996

Executive Member, History Society of Iceland, 1982 - 1988

President, Society Icelandic Studies, Copenhagen, 1994 - 1996

Chairman of the Governing Board, Jon Sigurdsson Icelandic Cultural Center, Copenhagen, 1994 - 1996

AWARDS/DECORATION:

Commander, Order of the Falcon (Iceland)

Grand Cross, Order of Merit (Luxembourg)

Commander with Star, Order of Saint Olav (Norway)

Commander 1st cl., Order of the Polar Star (Sweden)

Commander 1st cl., Order of the Lion (Finland)

Commander 1st. cl., Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)

Commander, Legion of Honour (France)

Commander, Order of the White Rose (Finland)

PUBLICATIONS:

Iceland and Jan Mayen, 1980 (Co-Author)

Bjarni Benediktsson - Contemporaries Views, 1983 (Editor)

NATO's Anxious Birth - The Prophetic Vision of the 1940s, 1985 (Co-Author)

Articles in periodicals include 'Columbus in Iceland', appearing in Atlantic et al. 1991

LANGUAGES:

Scandinavian languages, English, French, German

INTERESTS:

History, classical music/opera, walking

MEETINGS ATTENDED:

Has taken part in numerous international conferences, such as the 29th, 30th, 31st, 38th, 39th and 40th United Nations General Assemblies, and the CSCE at Geneva 1974 and follow-up meetings Belgrade 1977 and Madrid 1980 - 1981; CSCE Information Forum, London 1989 (Head of Delegation); CSCE Conference on the Human Dimension, Moscow 1991 (Head of Delegation); Conference on Assistance to New Independent States, Tokyo 1992 (Head of Delegation); also bilateral and multilateral interstate meetings and negotiations inter alia relating to law of the sea, trade, transport and taxation matters

. . . . .

September 2003

__________________________________________________________

KUJTIM XHANI

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA

BORN:

29 August 1955, Tirana

AGE:

48

MARITAL STATUS:

Married
Has two children

EDUCATION:

1979
Graduated from the Linguistic Faculty, Kim Il Sung University, Pyongyang, North Korea

CAREER:

1980 - 1982
Officer, Shkodra City Custom Office

1983
Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Aug 1983
Attache, Albanian Embassy in Pyongyang

1985
Third Secretary, Albanian Embassy in Pyongyang

1987
Second Secretary, Albanian Embassy in Pyongyang

1989
Deputy Director, Protocol Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1992
Acting Director, Protocol Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1995 - Aug 1996
First Secretary, Albanian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

Sep - Dec 1996
Charge d'Affairs a.i. Albanian Embassy in Zagreb

Nov 1997 -Sep 1998
Charge d'Affairs a.i. Albanian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

Oct 1998 -Mar 2000
Director, Afro-Asia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Apr 2000
Ambassador-designate to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore, with residence in Beijing

. . . . .

September 2003

__________________________________________________________

MOHAMED MOULDI KEFI

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA

BORN:

10 February 1946, Kef, Tunisia

AGE:

57

MARITAL STATUS:

Married
Has four children

EDUCATION:

1970
Literary Studies, University of Tunis, Tunisia

1972
Master of Philosophy , University of Strasbourg, France

1995
Institute of National Defense, Tunis, Tunisia

1997
Academy of Informatization, University of Moscow, Russia

CAREER:

Nov 1967 - Aug 1971
Attache in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Aug 1971 -Feb 1973
Attache, Tunisian Embassy in Prague

Feb 1973 - Sep 1973
Second Secretary, Tunisian Embassy in East Berlin

Sep 1973 - Sep 1977
First Secretary, Tunisian Embassy in Moscow

Sep 1977 - Sep 1978
Deputy Head of the COMECON Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sep 1978 - Sep 1979
Head of South and Central American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sep 1979 - Sep 1980
Chief of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sep 1980 - Sep 1988
Counsellor, then Minister Plenipotentiary, Tunisian Embassy in London

Sep 1988 - Sep 1990
Deputy-Director of the American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sep 1990 - Sep 1994
Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone

Sep 1994 - Dec 1994
Head of the American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Dec 1994 - Sep 1996
Chief of Staff of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Sep 1996 - Sep 1999
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation and the CIS Countries

Oct 1999 - Jun 2000
Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Jun 2000
Director General of Asia and America Department, MFA

Jan 2003
Ambassador to Republic of Indonesia

Concurrent accreditations to Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand

Apr 2003
Ambassador-designate to Singapore

23 Sep 2003 to date
Ambassador to Singapore, with residence in Jakarta

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:

Knight of the Order of the Tunisian Republic

Officer of same Order of the Tunisian Republic

Commander of the French Cultural Order

LANGUAGES:

Arabic, French and English

Minimum knowledge of Czech and Russian

HOBBIES:

Classical music, sport, chess

. . . . .

September 2003