Official Visit by Minister for Transport and Minister-In-Charge of Trade Relations, Mr S Iswaran to Belgium and United Kingdom from 5 to 11 December 2021

1.     Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Mr S Iswaran, is on an official visit to Brussels and London from 5 to 11 December 2021. The visit reaffirms Singapore’s longstanding and robust relations with these countries, especially in the areas of transport and trade.

2.     In Brussels, Minister Iswaran will meet Ms Adina Vălean, Commissioner for Transport, European Commission. The meeting will reinforce the strong transport co-operation between both sides, following the conclusion of the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (AE-CATA) earlier this year.

3.     Minister Iswaran will co-chair the inaugural EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) Trade Committee meeting with Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. At the meeting, Minister Iswaran and Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis will review the implementation of the EUSFTA, which entered into force in 2019, and discuss forward-looking areas of cooperation for the EU-Singapore partnership, including in the digital and green economies.

4.     In London, Minister Iswaran will lead the Singapore delegation, comprising officials from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), to the 32nd Regular Session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Assembly¹. Comprising 40 member states, the IMO Assembly convenes every two years for a Council election. Singapore was first elected to the IMO Council in 1993, and has since been making active contributions to the IMO and the international maritime community. Minister will also be meeting Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO, and signing a Memorandum of Cooperation on Singapore’s participation in the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) with Mr Lim, on the sidelines of the Assembly.

5.     Together with officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Minister Iswaran will meet the UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan to discuss efforts to expand and deepen bilateral economic cooperation in new and emerging areas, including the digital economy. He will meet the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng, UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy) Chris Philp, and engage UK and Singapore companies.

¹ The IMO is a specialised United Nations agency responsible for overseeing the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of pollution by ships. The IMO Council is the IMO’s executive organ, which supervises the IMO’s work. The IMO Assembly is the highest Governing body of the IMO.