Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam is visiting Moscow on a two-day trip from today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mr Tharman will chair the Sixth Session of the High-Level Russia-Singapore Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) together with the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr Igor Shuvalov, today. Mr Tharman and Mr Shuvalov will also open the Russia-Singapore Business Forum.

Mr Tharman is accompanied by Mrs Josephine Teo (Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport), Mr Sam Tan (Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Manpower) and Dr Koh Poh Koon (Minister of State-designate, Ministry of Trade & Industry and Ministry of National Development).

Mr Tharman is also accompanied by a business delegation and officials from various ministries and government agencies.

The ministry said the IGC is an annual high-level platform to promote collaboration between Singapore and Russia in various sectors. The Fifth Session of the IGC was held in Singapore on Sept 10 last year.

This year, according to the ministry statement, the IGC will consider measures to deepen investment ties and the sharing of experiences on governance and manpower policy, as well as to enhance cooperation in the agriculture, culture and higher education sectors.