MFA Press Statement: Visit of Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed to the Middle East, 20-25 October 2007

Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed will be visiting the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories from 20 to 25 October 2007. He will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In Dubai, SMS Zainul will be the Guest-of-Honour at a Hari Raya gathering organised by the Singapore Malay-Muslim Professional/Entrepreneur Group on 20 October 2007. He will then proceed to Jordan where he will jointly officiate at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) with the Jordanian Labour Minister Bassem Al-Salem on 21 October 2007. Jointly organised by Jordan and Singapore, the Centre's inaugural course will be conducted from 20 October to 8 November 2007. (Please see Annex A for details on the AMED RTCs). While in Amman, SMS Zainul will call on Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib.

SMS Zainul will visit Jerusalem from 22 to 23 October 2007. He will call on Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and meet with other political and religious leaders as well as visit key sites of interest in the Old City including the Al Aqsa Mosque. He will visit Ramallah in the Palestinian Territories on 24 October 2007 where he will call on Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and meet with other senior Palestinian officials.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
19 OCTOBER 2007

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Annex A

ASIA MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE (AMED) REGIONAL TRAINING CENTRES

1 The Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) was conceived by the former Prime Minister of Singapore (presently Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong in 2004 to foster dialogue and mutual understanding, as well as strengthen co-operation between Asia and the Middle East in different areas. Singapore hosted the inaugural AMED from 20-22 June 2005 at the Shangri-la Hotel. The theme of the inaugural AMED was "Common Interests and Common Challenges".

2 Arising from the AMED meeting, human resource development was identified as one of the common issues faced by many countries. Singapore decided to contribute to human resource development through two regional training centres. The AMED Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) in Jordan will focus on developing skills in air-conditioning and heating systems maintenance and diagnostics for the construction industry, while the AMED Regional Training Centre for Public Administration (RTCPA), located in Qatar focuses on the training of civil servants and developing skills and strategies for excellence in public service. Together with the RTCPA in Doha, Qatar, the RVTC is part of Singapore's effort to support human resource development in the Middle East under the AMED process.

AMED RVTC in Jordan

3 The RVTC, jointly established by MFA and the Jordanian Vocational Training Corporation, is located at the Marka Technical Training Institute (TTI), which is just outside Amman City. The installation of the training equipment at the RVTC was completed in September 2007. Singapore's contribution covering the cost of equipment and installation was about S$1.2 million. The RVTC will conduct vocational training courses, which will focus on developing skills in air-conditioning and heating systems maintenance and diagnostics for the construction industry, for participants from the AMED member countries. Singapore's contributions include the initial equipment setup and installation as well as the cost of sending the Institute of Technical Education lecturers to conduct the courses at the RVTC under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). The RVTC's inaugural course on "Building Services Technology for Middle Eastern Countries: Workshop in Air-Conditioning Systems Maintenance and Diagnostics" will be conducted from 20 October to 8 November 2007.

4 More details are available on the AMED Website at http://www.amed.sg/english.

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