MFA PRESS STATEMENT: VISIT BY DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, COORDINATING MINISTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AND MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS TEO CHEE HEAN TO THE STATE OF QATAR, 12 TO 15 MARCH 2012

Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean will be visiting Doha, Qatar from 12 to 15 March 2012 to co-chair the Fifth Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee Meeting with the Heir Apparent of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

 DPM Teo will be accompanied by Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts and Minister-In-Charge of Muslim Affairs Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Finance and Transport Josephine Teo, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Community Development, Youth and Sports Sam Tan and senior officials from various ministries and government agencies.

The High-Level Joint Committee is the main platform of engagement that charts the strategic direction of Qatar-Singapore relations. Singapore and Qatar have taken turns to host the High-Level Joint Committee since its inaugural session in Doha in October 2006. The Fourth High-Level Joint Committee Meeting was held in Singapore in November 2010.

Singapore's ties with Qatar have deepened and expanded steadily through the years. Bilateral cooperation now encompasses a wide range of areas such as security, labour, health, culture, environment, finance, and trade and investments. At the Fifth High-Level Joint Committee Meeting on 13 March 2012, both countries are expected to sign Memorandums of Understanding to enhance bilateral cooperation in the areas of information and communication technology as well as culture.

As part of his programme in Doha, DPM Teo is scheduled to call on His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority and His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani, Minister of State for Interior Affairs. DPM Teo will also visit the Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre* in Mesaieed managed by Keppel Seghers as well as meet the Singaporean community in Qatar.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

12 MARCH 2012

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*The S$1.7 billion contract to build and operate the Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre (DSWMC) for 20 years was awarded in October 2006 by the Qatari Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning. The DSWMC is the first integrated waste management facility in the Middle East designed to handle and treat domestic solid waste for the whole of Qatar. It also features one of the largest composting plants in the world. The DSWMC formally commenced operations in October 2011. With an initial capacity to treat more than 2,300 tonnes of mixed solid waste, the facility comprises waste separation and recycling facilities, an engineered landfill, a composting plant and a 1,500 tonnes per day Waste-to-Energy (WTE) incineration plant.