Senior Singapore officials visit Middle East

Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew visited Dubai eGovernment in April. The delegation was given a detailed presentation on Dubai eGovernment's services and facilities.

The delegates also discussed challenges faced by eGovernments in their quest to keep up with the new developments in technology and management practices.

In March, Singapore President S.R. Nathan, accompanied by a Singapore delegation comprising ministers, senior government officials and industry players, was on a state visit to Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The visit helped deepen and strengthen the strong political and economic ties between Singapore and the Middle East region. It also marked the first state visit by the President to Qatar.

Speaking to the media after the visit, President Nathan said that Singapore's reputation as a trustworthy partner will give it an edge over others when doing business in the region. The President also noted that competition between countries is unavoidable but there is always scope for collaboration.

Chief Executive Officer of IDA, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, led a delegation of senior IDA officers to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in February. This is his first visit to the Middle East.

Besides being given insights into the e-Government and ICT developments in the Middle East, the IDA delegation also took the opportunity to exchange ideas with senior government officials to further strengthen the bilateral relationships between IDA and its Middle East partners.

The delegation also met up withSingapore companies operating in the region to understand their business operations and development in the Middle East.