Asia-Middle East Dialogue Update

Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he can provide an update on the developments and achievements of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) since 2004 and whether interest is waning among dialogue partners since the third and last AMED Ministerial Meeting in 2010.

The Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) was proposed by Singapore in 2004 to increase interaction and dialogue between Asia and the Middle East in order to enable both regions to share experiences and leverage on each other's strengths in the political, economic and social spheres for mutual benefit. Singapore was privileged to host the inaugural AMED meeting in 2005. Since then, two more AMED meetings had been held in Egypt and Thailand in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The 4th AMED meeting will be held in the Middle East, although a date has not been fixed. Given the developments in the Middle East in recent years, AMED has understandably not been a high priority for the region.

Nonetheless, the fruits of AMED's meetings continue to bear results. At the inaugural AMED meeting in Singapore, human resource development was identified as one of the common issues faced by countries. In this regard, Singapore has contributed by establishing two AMED regional training centres, namely the Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) hosted at the Technical Training Institute in Marka, Jordan, as well as the Regional Training Centre for Public Administration (RTCPA) hosted by the Institute of Administrative Development (IAD) in Doha, Qatar. Singapore and Jordan jointly established the RVTC in

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while the Singapore-Qatar RTCPA was launched in 2006. Since then, about 500 participants from AMED countries have benefited from the courses offered at these training centres.

Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation in Human Resource Development was signed between Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Grace Fu and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on the sidelines of King Abdullah II's visit to Singapore in February 2014. Under this enhanced MOU, Singapore will conduct courses in Jordan in areas, such as public administration, economic development, vocational education, sustainable development and water management, for participants from AMED member countries.

Similarly, for the RTCPA in Qatar, Singapore and Qatar signed an enhanced MOU in November 2013 to increase the number of courses and added new training areas covering sustainable development, quality management and public finance. We continue to consult our AMED partners on the training areas in which they are interested so as to ensure that our courses offered remain relevant to their needs.