MFA Press Statement: Visit of Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli to Jordan, 20 to 24 October 2014

               Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli called on Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Abdullah Ensour, Minister of Interior Hussein Al Majali and Minister of Public Sector Development Dr Khleef Al Khawaldeh today. 

               Prime Minister Ensour and SMS Masagos reaffirmed the warm relations between Singapore and Jordan which are underpinned by good personal relations between the leaders.  SMS Masagos welcomed Jordanian interest in learning from Singapore’s developmental experience and expressed appreciation to the Jordanian Government in facilitating Singaporean students pursuing Islamic education in Jordanian universities.  During his meeting with Minister of Public Sector Development Dr Khawaldeh, SMS Masagos welcomed Jordan’s interest in collaborating with the Civil Service College on the training of Jordanian civil servants and suggested that Jordan could in the future develop as a centre of excellence for public administration.  Dr Khawaldeh and SMS Masagos also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on capacity building of government officials between the Civil Service College and the Ministry of Public Sector Development as well as the Institute of Public Administration of Jordan, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Ensour.  During his meeting with Minister of Interior Al Majali, SMS Masagos was briefed on the regional security situation. 

               SMS Masagos also met Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs Nasser Judeh yesterday.  During the meeting, Minister Judeh and SMS Masagos welcomed the healthy exchange of bilateral visits.  As countries with small populations and limited natural resources, there was scope for Singapore and Jordan to collaborate and learn from each other.  SMS Masagos noted Jordan’s key regional role in the Middle East as well as active leadership in promoting inter-faith dialogue and countering religious extremism.  Both Ministers also had a frank exchange of views on regional developments in the Middle East including Iraq and Syria. 

               In addition, SMS Masagos met Minister of Labour and Minister of Transport Nidal Katamine.  Both Ministers welcomed the close collaboration between the Vocational Training Centre and MFA in establishing the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) in 2007.  About 100 participants from AMED member countries have been trained at the RVTC in air-condition maintenance. To mark the successful completion of the Third Country Training Programme, a Joint Communique was signed by Ambassador to Jordan K Kesavapany and Director General of the Vocational Training Corporation Majed Habashneh. 

               SMS Masagos also visited Irbid where he had a dialogue session with about 60 Singaporean students studying in Jordan on developments in Singapore.    

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

21 OCTOBER 2014