Diplomatic Correspondent: Singapore High Commission was inaugurated in Dhaka. The inauguration of the new High Commission was completed with a grand opening ceremony held at the Renaissance Hotel in the capital on Tuesday evening.
Sheila Pillai, Charge d’Affaires of the Singapore High Commission, gave the welcome address thanking all the invitees to the event.
Singaporean High Commissioner Derek Lohe said that Singapore was one of the countries that recognized Bangladesh soon after its independence. In this regard, Singapore was fourth in Asia.
The chief guest of the event, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said, Bangladesh and Singapore have excellent relations. With the new High Commission in Dhaka, existing commercial and economic relations will be accelerated. He sought the country’s cooperation in getting Bangladesh’s membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Foreign Minister also highlighted the importance of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Derek Lohe, Hasan Mahmood and the special guest of the event, former Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen cut the cake to usher in the high commission’s new journey.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the European Union, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Libya, Sri Lanka, Norway, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sweden, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Nepal besides the Deputy Ambassador of Russia, representatives of the United Nations and various international organizations were present at the event. Invited persons were present.
Singapore, a wealthy city-state in Southeast Asia, was once a trading post for a British colony. The country has now become a global economic ‘hub’.
For this reason, the country is called the ‘tiger’ of the Asian economy. Singapore announced the high commission of the Singapore Consulate in Dhaka during the Bangladesh-Singapore Foreign Ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 20 last year.
Foreign Minister of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan had a meeting with the then Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr AK Abdul Momen on that day. From that meeting, Momen requested Singapore’s foreign minister to establish a full-fledged Singaporean mission in Dhaka, and he assured them that their consulate in Dhaka would be upgraded to a high commission.