MFA Press Statement: Presentation of Credentials

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

(a) The Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil,
His Excellency Paulo Alberto da Silveira Soares;

(b) The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey,
His Excellency Ahmet Bülent Merỉç; and

(c) The High Commissioner of the Republic of India,
His Excellency Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The curricula vitae of His Excellency Paulo Alberto da Silveira Soares, His Excellency Ahmet Bülent Merỉç and His Excellency Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar are attached.

. . . . .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
23 JANUARY 2007

PAULO ALBERTO DA SILVEIRA SOARES

AMBASSADOR

FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

BORN: 16 November 1947, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

AGE: 58

MARITAL STATUS: Married to Luisa Goyena Soares. They have two sons.
(Alberto Goyena Soares, 22yrs and Rodrigo Goyena Soares, 20yrs)

EDUCATION:

Diploma in French Language and Literature, University of Nancy, France, 1967

Certificate of Proficiency in English Language, Cambridge University ,1967

Law Studies, Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, 1968

Law Degree, University of Brasilia, 1970 to 1971

High Studies Course of the Diplomatic Academy, Ministry of External Relations, with thesis on "The Economic Diplomacy of Indira Gandhi", 1992

CAREER:
1968 Graduated from the Brazilian Diplomatic Academy and joined the Ministry of External Relations

1970 - 1972 Assistant to the Head of the Cultural Promotion Division, Ministry of External Relations

1972 Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of Brazil, Georgetown, Guyana

Dec 1972 - Aug 1976 Third and Second Secretary, Head of the Trade Promotion Section, Embassy of Brazil, Stockholm, Sweden

Aug 1976 - Apr 1980 Second and First Secretary Embassy of Brazil, Baghdad, Iraq (Charge d'Affaires)

1979 Promoted to First Secretary

Apr 1980 - Sep 1982 First Secretary, Head of the Trade Promotion Section, Embassy of Brazil, Madrid, Spain

Sep 1982 - Apr 1985 First Secretary, Embassy of Brazil, New Delhi, India (Charge d'Affaires)

Apr 1985 - Apr 1990 Assistant to Head of the Trade Promotion Department, Ministry of External Relations and Head of the Trade Promotion Division and Head of the Trade Promotion Division

Dec 1986 Promoted to Counsellor

Apr 1990 - Apr 1993 Head of the Trade Promotion Section, Embassy of Brazil, London, United Kingdom

Apr 1992 - June 1995 Head of the Trade Promotion Division, Ministry of External Relations

Member of the Presidential State Visit Delegations to Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay

Dec 1994 Promoted to Minister

Jul 1995 - Jul 2001 Minister-Counsellor and Head of Economic and Mercosur Affairs, Embassy of Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jul 2001 - Mar 2005 Consul-General, Province of Cordoba, Argentina

Apr 2005 - May 2006 Head of Protocol and International Affairs, Federal Supreme Court of Brazil

Jun 2006 - Jan 2007 Ambassador-designate of the Federative Republic of Brazil to Singapore

23 Jan 2007 Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil to Singapore

AWARDS & DECORATIONS:

Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Sweden, 1976

Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Spain, 1982

Order of Merit "Admiral Tamandare", Ministry of the Navy, Brazil, 1992

Order of Merit of the Republic of Venezuela, 1994

Order of Merit, Ministry of Labour, Brazil, 1994

Order of Civil Merit "General San Martin" of the Republic of Argentina, 1998

"Rio Branco" Order of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil, Sep 2005

. . . . .

January 2007

AHMET BÜLENT MERIÇ

AMBASSADOR

REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

BORN: 22 February 1957, Ankara

AGE: 49

MARITAL STATUS: Married, Has two children

EDUCATION:
B.A. International Relations, Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University
M.A. International Relations, University of Hull United Kingdom

CAREER:
26 May 1980 - 30 Jan 1981 Assistant Expert, Directorate General for Treasury, Ministry of Finance

30 Jan 1981 - 1 Mar 1982 Attaché/Third Secretary, International Organisations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2 Mar 1982 - 2 Jul 1982 Military Service

5 Jul 1982 - 24 Oct 1983 Third Secretary, Directorate for Council of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

24 Oct 1983 - 14 Nov 1986 Third Secretary/Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Tel Aviv

14 Nov 1986 - 1 Sep 1988 Second Secretary/First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Tokyo

1 Sep 1988 - 27 Sep 1990 First Secretary, Directorate for Council of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

27 Sep 1990 - 30 Jun 1992 First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Helsinki

30 Jun 1992 - 1 Nov 1994 First Secretary, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Turkey to the Council of Europe

1 Nov 1994 - 2 Sep 1996 First Secretary/Head of Section, Department of Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2 Sep 1996 - 31 Aug 2000 Counsellor/First Counsellor, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Turkey to the United Nations Geneva Office

31 Aug 2000 - 12 Aug 2002 First Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Tehran

12 Aug 2002 - 1 Sep 2003 Head of Department, Directorate for NATO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1 Sep 2003 - 23 Nov 2004 Head of Department, Directorate of Global Control of Arms and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

23 Nov 2004 - 16 Dec 2004 Acting Deputy Director-General, Directorate of Global Control of Arms and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

16 Dec 2004 - Nov 2006 Deputy Director-General, Directorate of Global Control of Arms and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Nov 2006 - Jan 2007 Ambassador-designate of the Republic of Turkey to Singapore

23 Jan 2007 Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Singapore

. . . . .

January 2007

DR SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR

HIGH COMMISSIONER

REPUBLIC OF INDIA

BORN: 9 January 1955

AGE: 51

MARITA STATUS: Married, Has one daughter and two sons

EDUCATION: M.A., M.Phil., Phd in International Relations

CAREER:

8 Aug 1977 Joined Indian Foreign Service

Aug 1979 - Oct 1991 Third/Second Secretary (Political), Moscow

Oct 1981 - Apr 1985 Under Secretary (AMS, PPC), Ministry of External Affairs

Apr 1985 - May 1988 First Secretary (Political), Washington

Jun 1988 - Jul 1990 First Secretary (Political), Colombo

Aug 1990 - Mar 1993 First Secretary/Counsellor, Budapest

Mar 1993 - Jan 1994 Director (EE), Ministry of External Affairs

Jan 1994 - Dec 1995 Press Secretary to President

Jan 1996 - Nov 2000 Minister/Deputy Chief of Mission, Tokyo

Nov 2000 - Feb 2004 Ambassador in Prague

Mar 2004 - Nov 2006 Joint Secretary (Americas), Ministry of External Affairs

Nov 2006 - Jan 2007 High Commissioner-designate of the Republic of India to Singapore

23 Jan 2007 High Commissioner of the Republic of India to Singapore 8 Aug 1977 Joined Indian Foreign Service

Aug 1979 - Oct 1991 Third/Second Secretary (Political), Moscow

Oct 1981 - Apr 1985 Under Secretary (AMS, PPC), Ministry of External Affairs

Apr 1985 - May 1988 First Secretary (Political), Washington

Jun 1988 - Jul 1990 First Secretary (Political), Colombo

. . . . .

January 2007