MFA Press Statement: Presentation of Credentials of Singapore's Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community

Ambassador Kemal Siddique presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Irwin Larocque at the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana on 14 March 2012. Ambassador Siddique is Singapore's first Plenipotentiary Representative to the CARICOM, and will be resident in Singapore.

Ambassador Siddique is the Executive Director of Tony K Siddique & Associates Pte Ltd. He currently holds appointments as Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Denmark (since January 1994), Special Envoy to the Asia-Middle East Dialogue for Economic/Business Issues (from July 2006), Special Envoy to Ukraine (from March 2011), and Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs (from January 2012).

Ambassador Siddique joined the civil and diplomatic service in 1970. He has held a number of diplomatic assignments, and was Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and to the then-Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. He was also concurrently Ambassador to Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, the German Democratic Republic, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Greece. He has been the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister on diplomatic assignments. He has attended ASEAN and international conferences, including five sessions of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ambassador Siddique has also held senior appointments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Singapore Economic Development Board. Ambassador Siddique was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) and the Public Service Star by the Singapore Government. The German Government conferred the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit on Ambassador Siddique for his contributions in promoting Singapore-German relations.

He retired from the civil service in 1996 and moved to the private sector.

. . . . .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
16 MARCH 2012

____________________________

THANK-YOU SPEECH BY AMBASSADOR KEMAL SIDDIQUE
AT PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS CEREMONY
CARICOM SECRETARIAT, GUYANA
14 MARCH 2012

· Thank you, Secretary General Larocque, for your kind words.

· It is a great honour, and a great pleasure as well, to be visiting the region again.

· I will keep my remarks brief. Let me simply point out that Singapore has always and continues to value our relationship with the countries of the Caribbean. Our relations with the region date back to 1971, when Singapore and Trinidad & Tobago first established diplomatic relations.

· Like many of the CARICOM's member states, we are a small country. And like many of your member states as well, we are a small island state.

· We have a common interest in working together to ensure that the systems of global governance continue to hear and take note of our voices.

· We have successfully and productively worked together to further our common concerns at international fora such as the United Nations and the Forum of Small States.

· My appointment as Singapore's Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community is meant to be a signal that Singapore does not take the support of our Caribbean friends for granted. We will continue to work to sustain and deepen our engagement of the region, including finding new avenues for cooperation and collaboration.

· I look forward to working with the CARICOM Secretariat, as well as its individual member states, towards enhancing relations between the CARICOM and Singapore.

· Thank you.

. . . . .