MFA Press Statement: Visit Of Senior Parliamentary Secretary For Foreign Affairs And Community Development, Youth And Sports Mr Sam Tan to Rome, Italy 20 - 23 March 2012

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Community Development, Youth and Sports Mr Sam Tan, is visiting Italy, from 20 to 23 March 2012 in conjunction with his attendance at the ASEAN Awareness Forum, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the on 22-23 March 2012.

On 20 March 2012, Mr Tan had a meeting with Vice President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Mr Rocco Buttiglione.  Mr Buttilglione also hosted Mr Tan to dinner on 21 March 2012.  Mr Tan and Mr Buttiglione exchanged views on recent developments in Europe and Asia, and discussed ways to strengthen economic, cultural and parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.  Mr Buttiglione expressed interest to learn more about Italy’s experiences in economic development and promoting racial harmony.

On 21 March 2012, Mr Tan met with Italian Minister for Relations with Parliament Mr Piero Giarda, who was accompanied by Under-Secretary of State for Relations with Parliament Mr Antonio Malaschini.  Mr Giarda informed Mr Tan that the Italian Parliament was in the process of ratifying the Protocol adopting the international Exchange of Information (EOI) standard to the Singapore-Italy Double Taxation Agreement (DTA).  Mr Giarda said that the ratification was likely to be completed in 2012, and would pave the way for to be included in Italy’s tax whitelist.  Mr Tan also updated Mr Giarda on the ongoing negotiations on the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and the EU-Singapore Partnership & Cooperation Agreement (ESPCA). Mr Giarda welcomed the good progress in the ongoing negotiations and expressed his support for the two agreements.

On 22 March 2012, Mr Tan will attend the ASEAN Awareness Forum, hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Mr Giulio Terzi.  The forum aims to raise awareness among Italian businesses and international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of economic opportunities in the Southeast Asian region, and to foster greater economic integration between and ASEAN countries. 

Mr Tan will also have meetings with Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ms Marta Dassù and Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies Mr Franco Narducci in the afternoon of 22 March 2012.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

22 MARCH 2012

SINGAPORE