MFA Press Statement: Presentation of Credentials, 31 May 2018

The following foreign Heads of Mission presented their credentials to President  Halimah Yacob in separate ceremonies at the Istana today:

(a) The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand

His Excellency Manopchai Vongphakdi

(b) The Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation

His Excellency Fabrice Filliez

(c) The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea

His Excellency Ahn Young-jip

  Their bio summaries are attached.   

.    .    .    .     .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE 

31 MAY 2018

Manopchai Vongphakdi

Ambassador to Singapore

Kingdom of Thailand

Mr. Manopchai Vongphakdi, 59, graduated with a Bachelors of Political Science (International Relations) from Chulalongkorn University. He attained a Masters of Social Science (Asian Government) from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Mr. Manopchai Vongphakdi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in 1989 and is a career diplomat. He has served at the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in New York and as Deputy Director at the Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei. In 2007, he became Consul-General at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Penang and was appointed Consul-General at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Osaka in 2010. Before accreditation to Singapore, Mr. Manopchai Vongphakdi was Thai Ambassador to Vietnam.

Mr. Manopchai Vongphakdi was born on 15 February 1959. He is married to Mrs. Nitinantana Vongphakdi. They have a son.

Fabrice Filliez

Ambassador to Singapore 

Swiss Confederation 

Fabrice Filliez is a career diplomat. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore and Brunei, Fabrice Filliez served in Berne for five years at the Swiss State Secretariat for International Financial Matters with the title of Ambassador in charge of multilateral tax matters. He was responsible for representing Switzerland's interests in important multilateral tax negotiations, in particular, at the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information.

Previously, he served as Head of the Economic and Finance Section of the Swiss Embassy in London. Other positions during his career included appointments at the Swiss Mission to the European Union in Brussels and at the Directorate for European Affairs in Berne, postings where he was actively involved in various Swiss-EU negotiations, as well as at the Directorate for Public International Law, Berne, Switzerland.

Fabrice Filliez graduated from the University of Geneva with a Degree in Law and holds a Master’s Degree in European Law from the University of Brussels, Belgium.

Ahn Young-jip

Ambassador to Singapore

Republic of Korea

Ambassador Ahn graduated from the Seoul National University, Korea, with a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) and holds a Master Degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, USA (1992). Ambassador Ahn Young-jip was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hellenic Republic from October 2015 to April 2018.

Ambassador Ahn started his diplomatic career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in June 1987. He has held a variety of positions which include: Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative in the Korean Permanent Mission to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland (2014); Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs, MOFAT (2012); Deputy Director-General, North American Affairs Bureau, MOFAT (2010); Counsellor, Korean Embassy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2007); Policy Director, Korea Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), New York, USA (2005); Director, Policy Planning and Coordination Division, MOFAT (2003); Director, Human Resources Management Division, MOFAT (2002); Assistant Secretary, Office of the President (2000); First Secretary, Korean Embassy in Nigeria (1997); Second Secretary, Korean Embassy in the United States of America (1994).

He is married with one daughter and one son.

(Photo credit: MCI)

(Photo credit: MCI)

(Photo credit: MCI)