Remarks by President Halimah Yacob at the State Banquet of King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Your Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein

Your Royal Highness Prince Hashim Bin Al Hussein

Your Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad

Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Your Majesty and your esteemed delegation to Singapore on this State Visit. Your Majesty is well acquainted with our country, this being your third State Visit to Singapore. You are truly among friends.

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Your Majesty for accepting my invitation to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) this morning. Your Majesty has been a thought leader in promoting the message of religious moderation as well as the importance of inter-faith dialogue and tolerance. As a multi-racial and multi-religious society, Singapore

applauds your efforts and many contributions in this area. It was a great honour to hear Your Majesty’s valuable insights at the ICCS. I am confident that your wise words will have a positive and lasting impact, not just in our respective regions but also in other parts of the world. In an increasingly polarised world where lines are drawn along ethnic, religious and other identities, we need strong voices of reason and advocates of peace among global leaders to protect our world from disintegrating. Your Majesty is one such voice.

Ties between Singapore and Jordan continue to grow from strength to strength. There has been a healthy and regular exchange of high level visits. Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean visited Amman in late 2018. The first resident Jordanian Embassy in Singapore was officially opened in November 2018 by His Excellency Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi. This historic milestone is a significant step in deepening the cooperation between our two countries in economic relations, vocational training, education, and many more areas. I am happy that we have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Establishment of Bilateral Consultations between Singapore and Jordan earlier today. It will foster greater interactions between officials from our two countries.

As small countries with limited resources, both Singapore and Jordan need to remain nimble to deal with challenges in the external environment. I hope the Singapore – Jordan Business Forum that took place earlier today will pave the way for more business collaborations, and help strengthen economic links and promote mutual prosperity of our two countries. Singapore continues to welcome Jordan’s active participation in the Singapore Cooperation Programme and in the courses under the Asia-Middle East Dialogue framework.

Your Majesty,

Peace and stability in the Middle East have never been of greater importance. Your Majesty has been a strong advocate for peaceful dialogue and cooperation for Jordan and the entire region. Your efforts in offering a safe haven to the millions fleeing conflict have been globally recognised. I would like to offer my belated congratulations to Your Majesty on receiving the Lamp of Peace prize earlier this year. We are confident that under Your Majesty’s guidance and leadership, Jordan

will continue to take an active role in the on-going quest for peace in the Middle East.

Your Majesty,

Your visit to Singapore has served to further strengthen the excellent relations between Singapore and Jordan. It has given us the opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment to interfaith harmony and dialogue. Singapore looks forward to working with Jordan to weave even more threads of cooperation into our tapestry of relations.

Thank you, and please enjoy the rest of the evening.