Working Visit by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman to Egypt

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman represented Singapore at the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza on 2 December 2024.

In his statement, Minister Maliki highlighted the need for more to be done to address the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Since the outbreak of the conflict, Singapore has sent five tranches of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Collectively, the Singapore Government and Singaporeans have contributed more than USD 13 million (or S$18 million) in cash and in-kind donations to relief efforts for Gaza. Minister Maliki reiterated Singapore’s call for the urgent, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire, as well as the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of all remaining hostages. Minister Maliki also expressed Singapore’s appreciation to Egypt for their support in facilitating Singapore’s humanitarian aid to Gaza in November 2023 and January 2024. Singapore stands ready to join the international community in supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza as they seek to rebuild their lives after a ceasefire is reached.

Minister Maliki also met Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dr Mohammad Mustafa on the sidelines of the Conference. Minister Maliki reaffirmed Singapore’s continued commitment to supporting the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) capacity-building efforts. Minister Maliki conveyed Singapore’s decision to increase the number of annual scholarships offered under Enhanced Technical Assistance Package (ETAP) from three postgraduate scholarships to a total of 10 scholarships – five undergraduate and five postgraduate – for Palestinians to study in Singapore. Singapore hopes that these scholarships will contribute to the PA’s human capital development efforts in preparation for eventual statehood.

Separately, Minister Maliki met Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty. They reaffirmed the longstanding relations between Singapore and Egypt. Egypt was the first Arab country to recognise Singapore’s independence in 1965. Both Ministers discussed the growing economic ties between our countries. Singapore is the 5th largest Asian investor in Egypt, with approximately USD 700 million of investments in Egypt. They discussed ways to expand our economic relations further. Minister Abdelatty welcomed the training programmes that Singapore had offered to Egypt. Over the years, the Singapore Cooperation Programme has trained around 700 Egyptian officials. Minister Maliki also expressed appreciation for Egypt’s continued support for our students at Al Azhar University and welcomed further collaboration on the new Singapore College of Islamic Studies.

Minister Maliki also had separate meetings with Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib, Bahrain Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdullatif Rashid Al Zayani and Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin.

The full transcript of Minister Maliki’s statement at the Conference is appended at Annex.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Singapore.