Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday.

The top officials reviewed bilateral relations between Qatar and Singapore and discussed issues of common concern.

In a related context, the Implementation Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) of the Singapore-Qatar High-Level Joint Committee (HLJC) also held its second meeting in Singapore yesterday. HE Sheikh Mohamed and Dr Balakrishnan chaired the meeting together.  

In a statement, the two sides highlighted the depth of bilateral relations between the two nations and praised the high level of bilateral cooperation achieved in various sectors.

Qatar and Singapore have cemented ties in recent years, following the visit of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Singapore in 2017, which saw the signing of several cooperation agreements in the fields of business, education and training sectors, among others. 

In the meeting yesterday, officials of both sides welcomed the high-level visits that have taken place more recently. These include the visit of the Singapore Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamed Maliki bin Osman to Qatar to participate in the 16th Ministerial Meeting of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in May earlier this year, and the visit of His Excellency the Minister of Justice and Minister of State for the Council of Ministers Affairs Dr Issa Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi, to Singapore for the signing ceremony of the Singapore Mediation Convention in August.

Today’s visit to #Singapore comes as an affirmation of the close ties between #Qatar and Singapore. IMM meeting High Level Joint Committee was excellent opportunity to broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation, esp in the realm of commerce, innovation, technology & development. pic.twitter.com/myVA5FpxA6

— محمد بن عبدالرحمن (@MBA_AlThani_) August 29, 2019

The two sides acknowledged the progress made since the first IMM meeting in April 2018, which reflects the success of the work of the committee in raising partnerships for mutual benefit.

Furthermore, the two dignitaries reviewed the work of the six technical working committees established under the IMM in the fields of ICT, security, business, legal, sustainable development, and social development.

The statement further underlined that the fruitful discussions at the senior officials’ meeting and technical working group meetings resulted in agreement on business cooperation.

During the meeting, Qatar Chamber highlighted possible areas of cooperation with the Singapore Business Federation, according to the statement. 

Qatar Chamber, Enterprise Singapore, and the Singapore Business Federation, expressed their keenness to organize delegation visits and business activities focusing on key sectors in Qatar and Singapore, including the oil and gas, information and communications technology, software, financial technology and urban solutions such as city planning, construction, and water and waste management.

Additionally, Qatar Chamber and the Singapore Business Federation discussed the possibility of forming a joint business council.

The two sides also discussed ways to boost cooperation in information technology, in the domains of cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, smart nation initiative, digital transformation, and digital societies. 

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Cover Image and Inline Image Credit: Twitter/MofaQatar_EN

Source: QNA