MFA Press Statement: Singapore Scholarship Programme

The Singapore Government awarded 32 undergraduate university scholarships to students from ASEAN countries under the Singapore Scholarship Programme at an award ceremony held on 5 August 2009 at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Balaji Sadasivan was the Guest-of-Honour at the event.

The Singapore Scholarship Programme, in its eleventh year, is part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), whose objective is to share Singapore's development experience and provide technical assistance to developing countries.

To date, 520 scholarships have been awarded to students from ASEAN countries. Under the Programme, the scholarship recipients will pursue undergraduate studies in fields such as Arts and Social Science; Accountancy; Business Administration; Computer Engineering; Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Engineering; and Science at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University. (Please see Annex A & B for more information on the Singapore Scholarship Programme and the Singapore Cooperation Programme respectively.)

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
5 AUGUST 2009

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ANNEX A

THE SINGAPORE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME

The Singapore Scholarship Programme is a Government-to-Government initiative that provides students from member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with a sound tertiary education in Singapore. The successful applicants are awarded the Singapore Scholarship on the basis of academic merit.

Initiated by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the 6th ASEAN Summit in December 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, the Singapore Scholarship was intended to ensure that good education opportunities remained available to bright, young people in ASEAN, as well as to provide the scholars with the skills and knowledge to contribute towards the development of their home countries upon graduation. The Singapore Scholarship reflects Singapore's firm belief that human resource development is key to the economic development of a nation.

The Singapore Scholarship is tenable for a full-time undergraduate degree across a wide range of courses at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU). A one-year bridging programme (foundation course) is also provided for the scholars where necessary.

Since the inception of the Programme, a total of 520 successful applicants have been awarded the Singapore Scholarship.

The Singapore Scholarship Programme is administered by the Technical Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, under the Singapore Cooperation Programme.

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ANNEX B

THE SINGAPORE COOPERATION PROGRAMME

As a small city-state of about 4.84 million inhabitants with no natural resources, Singapore believes that human resource development is vital to the economic and social progress of a nation. The Singapore Cooperation Programme or SCP is Singapore's way of sharing with developing nations its technical competencies and development experiences gained over the years.

Formally established in 1992, the SCP brought together the various technical assistance programmes offered by Singapore under one framework. Through the SCP, Singapore administers training programmes, study visits and scholarships that contribute to the human resource development of developing countries.

Over the years, the scope and number of training programmes have been increasing to meet the changing priority needs of the developing world. To date, Singapore has sponsored training courses and study visits for more than 61,000 officials from 169 developing countries in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean regions.

The SCP is administered by the Technical Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.

More details are available on the Singapore Cooperation Programme website at www.scp.gov.sg.