Presentation of Credentials Ceremony, 25 July 2023

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 State of Israel
His Excellency Eliyahu Vered Hazan

b. The High Commissioner of the Republic of India
His Excellency Dr Shilpak Ambule

c. The Ambassador of Turkmenistan
His Excellency Begench Durdyyev

d. The High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda
Her Excellency Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda

Their bio summaries are attached.

                                                                                                           . . . . .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
25 JULY 203

HIS EXCELLENCY Eliyahu Vered Hazan

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

STATE OF ISRAEL

  Ambassador Hazan, who was born in August 1977, holds a Bachelor and a Masters of Arts in History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also did German Language Studies at the University of Vienna in 2004.

After obtaining his degrees, Ambassador Hazan became a columnist at the Israel Hayom newspaper while working as a history teacher at a public college. He later became an advisor to various Israeli cabinet ministers from the Likud Party. From 2014 to July 2023, he held the positions of Foreign Affairs Director of the Likud Party as well as the Vice Chairman of the International Democrat Union. From 2021 to 2022, he was the spokesperson of the Likud Party and to then-Leader of the Opposition Benjamin Netanyahu. Ambassador Hazan recently joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was assigned as the Ambassador of Israel to Singapore.

Ambassador Hazan is fluent in Hebrew and English. He is married to Gila Vered Hazan and they have two children, aged two and four.

Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore

HIS EXCELLENCY Dr Shilpak Ambule

HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF INDIA

Before his diplomatic assignment in Singapore, High Commissioner Dr Shilpak Ambule was Head of the East Asia Division in the Ministry of External Affairs of India, and concurrently the Joint Secretary in the Office of the Minister of External Affairs (in the capacity of Chef de Cabinet).

He studied Medicine in Pune and holds a Master’s degree in Translation and Interpretation (Chinese-English) from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Monterey, California.

High Commissioner Ambule joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2002. He studied the Chinese language in Beijing and served two stints spanning eight years in different capacities in the Embassy of India in Beijing. He also served as Deputy Head of the East Asia Division in the Ministry of External Affairs and Chief of Staff of India’s Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to August 2018.

Following a brief stint as Deputy High Commissioner of India in Colombo from August 2018 to July 2019, he joined the External Affairs’ Minister’s Office in September 2019.

High Commissioner Ambule is married.

Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore

HIS EXCELLENCY Begench Durdyyev

AMBASSADOR TO SINGAPORE

TURKMENISTAN

Ambassador Durdyyev is currently Ambassador of Turkmenistan to the Republic of Korea, with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Singapore.

A career diplomat, Ambassador Durdyyev had served as Head of the Department of Middle East and Counsellor in the Department of European Countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. He had also worked at the State Protocol and the International Relations Department of the Administration of the President of Turkmenistan. Ambassador Durdyyev’s previous overseas assignments include the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Korea.

Ambassador Durdyyev graduated from the Turkmen State University in 1996.  He speaks Turkmen, Russian, English and Farsi. He is married and has a son and a daughter.

Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore

Her EXCELLENCY Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda

HIGH COMMISSIONER TO SINGAPORE

REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

High Commissioner Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda has been the High Commissioner of the Republic of Uganda to India since 2022. In addition to Singapore, she is also accredited to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

She previously served as Uganda’s High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand from 2017 to 2022, as well as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to Ireland from 2013 to 2017. 

Formerly a professor of agriculture and food science at Makerere University in Kampala, High Commissioner Kikafunda had been involved in projects to eradicate poverty and reduce childhood malnutrition. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines from 2010 to 2015.

High Commissioner Kikafunda has a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, 1976; Master of Science (Food Science and Technology), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, 1979; and Doctor of Philosophy (Food Science and Nutrition), University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom, 1996.

Photo Credit: Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore