(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Joel Johnson |
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar and Singapore approach a crucial milestone of a decades-long friendship this year, as both nations will mark a significant 40-year relationship.
During an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, the newly arrived Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the State of Qatar H E Wong Chow Ming asserted that the two countries have embarked on excellent ties and continue to remain substantial and dynamic in terms of diplomacy and business bilateral ties.
After having served as an Ambassador in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, H E Ambassador Wong expressed his delight by saying“I am honored to have been assigned to serve in the beautiful State of Qatar. I have had such a wonderful experience serving in this region that I'm keen to continue to remain on post in this region to serve my country's interests.”
Ambassador Wong remarked that Qatar and Singapore share common interests and both small states are located between big neighbors. He said:“Despite our small sizes, we both want to be active, responsible, and constructive members of the international community. We both recognise the importance of a rules-based international order that will respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of small states, and we want to be able to have open and inclusive multilateral systems in which we can survive and strive.”
Outlining his plans and initiatives in 2024 and the years ahead, the envoy noted that there are several areas of cooperation Qatar and Singapore will focus including energy, food security, digital economy, and Artificial Intelligence.
Last year, during her state visit, former president of Singapore H E Halimah Yakob arrived in Qatar as both nations saw numerous high-level exchanges. Following that, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Singapore and witnessed several memorandums of understanding being signed during the Eighth High Level Joint Committee Meeting.
The Ambassador mentioned that the High Level Joint Committee is the“highest level” of such a bilateral platform that Qatar has with an Asian country. The agreements included several sectors such as energy, food security, cybersecurity, technical cooperation, enterprise digitalisation, and innovation in addition to social development and family education, water research, and commercial partnerships.
Highlighting the importance of digitalisation and innovation in Qatar and Singapore, Ambassador Wong said that there is a lot of scope in the area, and this created a positive impact on the region, especially during the global pandemic times.
In terms of trading partners, Qatar is Singapore's third-largest among the GCC nations, and Singapore is the sixth-largest in Qatar globally.
“We are also happy to be the regional hub for Qatar to invest in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and the Asia Pacific, he said.
The Ambassador said that Singapore hosts the second regional office of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) as it is the second office the entity has outside of Qatar, apart from the first one in New York.
Apart from investing in Singapore, Ambassador Wong underscored the prospects of Qataris to consider investing in the region. He said“In Southeast Asia, we have 10 countries together with a combined economy, which is the 5th largest in the world, and what's important in Southeast Asia is that you have a very large young and dynamic population. These developments mean that there are a lot of business opportunities for Qatar and Qatari companies. We feel that Singapore can be a very good base for Qatar, not just the QIA, but also for other Qatar companies to come to Singapore, and explore opportunities in Singapore as well as in Southeast Asia and the Wider Asia Pacific.”
According to Enterprise SG, over 30 Singaporean firms are operating in Qatar. Taking over this new responsibility in late 2023 as an Ambassador to Qatar, he emphasised his desire to bring more Singaporean organisations, and businesspersons to the country.
“This pathway is very orderly, well functioning, efficient, and very effective economy and we feel that there's a lot of opportunities for Singapore companies as well as Singapore professionals to consider coming to Qatar to do business, to live and to work here," the Ambassador added.
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