1. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Singapore in 2015, President Park Geun-hye of the ROK exchanged celebratory messages with President Tony Tan Keng Yam of Singapore.

* The ROK and Singapore established diplomatic relations on August 8, 1975.

2. In her message, President Park, calling the year 2015 a significant one marking the 40th anniversary of the ROK-Singapore diplomatic relations and the 50th anniversary of the latter’s independence, noted that she had had Minister Yoo il-ho of Land, Infrastructure and Transport attend as her special envoy the ceremony held on August 9 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence. She added that the two countries have seen advances in their cooperative ties across the board, including political affairs, economy and culture, since forging diplomatic relations in 1975.

3. Furthermore, President Park, bringing attention to the sharp increase in bilateral trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges since the inauguration of President Tan, expressed pleasure over the growing interest of the Singaporean people in the ROK.

4. President Park went on to comment that there is a great potential for enhancing connectivity and cooperation between the ROK’s creative economy and Singapore’s knowledge-based economy.

5. President Tony Tan Keng Yam took note of the ongoing bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors since the establishment of diplomatic relations, particularly the rapidly growing cooperation in the economic sector.

◦ The President noted that the ROK and Singapore, which had become important trading partners to each other after the entry into force of the bilateral FTA in 2006, are making efforts to deepen cooperation in such fields as information and communications, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and transportation.

* Singapore is the ROK’s fifth-largest trading partner and its largest among the member countries of ASEAN.

6. President Tan brought attention to the sharp increase in bilateral people-to-people exchanges, saying that more than 500,000 ROK nationals had visited Singapore in 2014, while more than 200,000 Singaporeans had traveled to the ROK in the same year. He expressed his confidence that bilateral ties will continue to strengthen.

7. In addition to the exchange of celebratory messages between their heads of state, the ROK and Singapore are holding a variety of events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2015. And, these events are expected to help further promote bilateral cooperation and further deepen the friendship between the peoples of the two countries.


* unofficial translation