AJC Leadership Delegation Visits Singapore

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Oct 26, 2014, 12:12 ET

SINGAPORE, Oct. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An AJC senior leadership delegation has concluded a two-day visit to Singapore.

The group, led by AJC Executive Director David Harris, met with senior members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Kirk Wagar, Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission Liat Lazimi-Levi, influential members of civil society, and leaders of the local Jewish community.

The visit, organized in cooperation with Yael Amit, AJC's Southeast Asia Representative, was the third stop of an AJC mission to the region. The group first visited Japan, where they met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and subsequently traveled to Indonesia, where they met briefly with the country's new Vice President, as well as two recent foreign ministers, leading Members of Parliament, journalists, and Muslim intellectuals. The AJC delegation was joined by Dr. Colin Rubinstein, Executive Director of AIJAC, AJC's long-time partner organization in Australia.

Topics discussed during the visit included: U.S. engagement with Asia-Pacific countries, Israeli-Singaporean bilateral ties, and regional developments.

"We departed Singapore with a profound sense of admiration for the tremendous accomplishments of the small island nation," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The breadth and depth of U.S.-Singapore cooperation are extremely impressive, and we continue to attach great importance to the strong bilateral ties between Israel and Singapore, which date back to the nation's founding in 1965."

Singaporean Foreign Minister K Shanmugam addressed the AJC Global Forum this past May in Washington, D.C., when more than 2,000 people, including Jewish representatives from dozens of countries and many Washington-based diplomats and officials, attended the annual gathering. AJC maintains close ties with Singaporean representatives in the U.S. and across the globe through its Asia Pacific Institute, led by Shira Loewenberg, who is also traveling with the AJC delegation.

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SOURCE American Jewish Committee