Presentation of Credentials Ceremony, 27 October 2026

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

1. The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Her Excellency Amira Mohie Eldin Fahmy Hussein

2. The Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen

His Excellency Salem Ahmed Balfakeeh

3. The Ambassador of the Dominican Republic

His Excellency José Julio Gómez Beato

Their bio summaries are attached.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

27 OCTOBER 2026

Ambassador Amira Mohie Eldin Fahmy Hussein joined the Egyptian Foreign Service in 1998. Prior to her appointment as the Ambassador to Singapore, she served as Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Specialised Agencies and Global Issues from 1 October 2024 to 5 October 2026. Ambassador Fahmy also previously served as Ambassador of Egypt to Uzbekistan from 30 November 2020 to 30 September 2024.

Ambassador Fahmy has also served overseas postings at Egypt’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and at Egypt’s Embassy in Tokyo. Her leadership positions within the Egyptian Foreign Ministry include stints as Director of the Foreign NGOs Department, and Director of Migration, Refugees, and Human Trafficking Affairs.

Ambassador Fahmy graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She speaks Arabic, English, French, and Japanese.

Before joining the foreign service, Ambassador Fahmy worked as a political researcher at the Centre for Developing Countries Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, and at the Egyptian Revolution Unit of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

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Ambassador Salem Ahmed Balfakeeh is concurrently the Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the Republic of Indonesia (2025–Present) and Ambassador-Designate to the Commonwealth of Australia and to Brunei Darussalam.

Ambassador Balfakeeh is a senior diplomat with over 30 years of experience. Most recently, Ambassador Balfakeeh served as Director General of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Affairs in Hadhramaut Governorate from 2017 to 2025. His assignments in Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have included serving as Director of the North Africa Department and Director of the East Asia Department (Asia and Australia Division). He has also served as Acting Consul-General and Deputy Consul-General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Advisor to the Governor of Hadhramaut, and at the Yemeni Embassy in Moscow.

Ambassador Balfakeeh holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Economic Sciences, specialising in International Economic Relations, from the University of Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ambassador Balfakeeh is married with four sons.

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Ambassador José Julio Gómez Beato of the Dominican Republic to the Republic of Singapore, with residence in the People’s Republic of China, is a diplomat, politician and lawyer with extensive experience in the public sector. Prior to his current assignments, he was Deputy Foreign Minister for Bilateral Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic from 2020 to 2025.

Ambassador Gómez Beato holds postgraduate degrees in International Trade, International and Diplomatic Studies, International Public Law, and Intelligence and Counterintelligence Operations. He is a member of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) of the Dominican Republic and has served as its Secretary for International Cooperation since 2018. He is married to Priscila Cedano and has two children. Besides his native Spanish, he speaks English, French and Portuguese fluently.

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