The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, held bilateral talks with her Singaporean counterpart, H.E. Vivian Balakrishnan, during a working visit to Singapore
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, held bilateral talks with her Singaporean counterpart, H.E. Vivian Balakrishnan, during a working visit to Singapore on Monday, 10th June, 2024. She was accompanied by the Ambassador of Japan, who doubles as the High Commissioner to Singapore, Mrs. Genevieve Edna Apaloo. The two leaders held fruitful deliberations aimed at strengthening relations through cooperation in agro-processing, renewable energy, trade, and investment, among others, for the mutual benefit of both countries.
On the multilateral level, both leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to maintaining international peace and security and discussed ways to make the Commonwealth more effective and responsive to the needs of Member Countries.
Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey used the opportunity to announce her candidature for the position of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, noting that the elections would be held during the 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled to take place in October 2024 in Samoa. She highlighted her transformational agenda for the Commonwealth, aimed at building resilience to confront contemporary challenges such as stagnating economies, ever-increasing inequality, high youth unemployment, climate disasters, and threats to democracy and human rights.