NEW YORK, Saturday, 28 September 2013: The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Mr. K Shanmugam, hosted a working lunch for the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Pacific SIDS countries in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The lunch was held at the Singapore Mission to the United Nations on Friday 27 September, to discuss issues of common interest. While Minister Shanmugam has met with the Pacific Island Ministers on several occasions in the past, this was the first time they were meeting in New York.
In a wide ranging discussion covering issues of common concern to the Pacific Islands, Minister Shanmugam assured his counterparts that Singapore remains ready to work together with them on strengthening bilateral ties. In his response, Minister Kubuabola expressed his appreciation to Singapore for the assistance and support to Fiji in different areas of bilateral cooperation established in the past year – in health, foreign affairs and energy, among others. He welcomed Singapore’s readiness to continue working with Fiji and the Pacific SIDS and to explore new areas of cooperation.
Responding to a particular query during the discussion regarding Fiji’s relations with Australia, Minister Kubuabola expressed his optimism that this is expected to improve following the recent election of a new Government in Australia.
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