President Halimah to visit Qatar in last trip abroad as head of state
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In Doha, President Halimah Yacob will be accorded a welcome ceremony, and will call on and be hosted to a state luncheon by Qatar's Emir.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
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SINGAPORE – President Halimah Yacob will make a state visit to Qatar from Monday to Thursday, marking her last overseas trip as head of state.
Her visit to the Gulf nation comes at the invitation of Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was the first foreign head of state she hosted after she took up her position in September 2017.
In Qatar’s capital Doha, she will be accorded a welcome ceremony, and will call on and be hosted to a state luncheon by Sheikh Tamim.
She will also be hosted to a visit to the National Museum of Qatar by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, who chairs Qatar Museums and was named “Queen of the Art World” by Forbes magazine in 2015.
Madam Halimah will meet the Singaporean community in Qatar at a reception, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday.
The President will be accompanied by her husband, Mr Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee; Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman; Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, and Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling; and MPs Henry Kwek and Sharael Taha.
Officials from the President’s Office, MFA, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Food Agency will be part of the delegation.
Mr Eddie Teo, who chairs the Council of Presidential Advisers, will be acting president while Madam Halimah is away.
The trip will be the second visit by a Singapore head of state to Qatar. Then President S R Nathan visited in March 2009.
Singapore and Qatar established diplomatic relations in November 1984.
Qatar is the Republic’s third-largest trading partner in the Middle East, with bilateral trade in 2022 amounting to $8.2 billion.
Since 2005, Singapore companies have secured projects there in sectors such as oil and gas, waste and water management, urban planning, and information and communications technologies.
The Qatar Investment Authority set up its representative office here in 2021 to grow the state’s investments in Asia.
