MFA Press Statement: Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam to the United States of America, 12- 15 March 2013

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam will visit Washington DC, United States of America, from 12- 15 March 2013.

During the visit, Minister Shanmugam will meet with his counterparts US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Attorney General Eric Holder.  Minister Shanmugam will also meet several key members of the US Congress, senior Administration officials, prominent American strategic thinkers, and members of the media.  This is Minister Shanmugam’s first meeting with Secretary Kerry since his appointment as Secretary of State, although they have met before when then-Senator Kerry was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Singapore and the US enjoy deep and long-standing relations, and Minister Shanmugam and Secretary Kerry and Attorney General Holder will discuss ways to broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation further.  This will include joint training programmes for Southeast Asian countries through the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme (TCTP).  Discussions are also expected to cover regional and international developments, particularly the US’ continued strong engagement of Asia, the ASEAN-US relationship, and the ongoing negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

Minister Shanmugam will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

11 MARCH 2013